I wished to be the very best
by hauptmannlaube
Summary: Ash Ketchum has to find new purpose in life after his dream came true and turned out to be a nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: A small introduction to what this story is about and what to expect:**

**#This story contains large amounts of Pokeshipping, but has a strong focus on Ash.**

**#Don't expect intricate descriptions of pokemon fights or strategy. I want to concentrate on other things.**

**#The humor and situations can get a bit risque but there won't be anything explicit. (The teen rating might get a bit stress tested though :p)**

**I hope you enjoy my little venture in the pokemon world and feel free to comment about anything in the reviews.**

* * *

Everything started with the return to his hometown three years ago.

The moment Ash Ketchum, fifteen years old, had stepped from a little boat and onto the harbor of Pallet Town, everything changed in a big way. News stations and tabloids ran rampant for weeks about a small boy taking the league of Kanto by storm with relative ease. Piece by piece, Ash blasted through all the gyms again, the Elite Four, and the champion on top.

It didn't end there.

Ash Ketchum had shocked the world again by continuing his conquest in Johto, but nowhere in the rules it stated that the champion of a region couldn't fight in another one. Ash simply kept going, getting around a lot easier through his familiarity with the places and the newfound funds as a Kanto champion.

He had to defend his title against everyone who qualified from each region after he became the champion of them. Naturally, the number of challengers went up each time and he often lost track for what title his opponent was challenging him, until he just put them all on the line for every fight as further motivation to succeed.

Forty badges, twenty four Elite Four members, every floor on all battle pyramid or towers, and seven defeated champions later, Ash had accomplished something no one had ever dared to dream about in recorded history.

The complete unification of all known titles in the world.

He held anything worthwhile in Pokemon battling from every region. Some sources even stated that he entertained the idea of doing the same as a coordinator, but those rumors were quickly debunked under the collective sigh of relief from the Coordinator community.

Ash had found out quickly about the setbacks of his title and the myriad of responsibilities after the initial euphoria. People expected certain things from a world champion and the Pokemon League officials were breathing down his neck constantly to assure he represented them in the right way.

Reluctant to embrace him at first, they now saw the potential money in marketing the conqueror of the Pokemon world. Meetings, promotional tours, charity balls, public speeches and many other events required him on his best behavior in tight fitting suits and uncomfortable shoes, clinging to his body like a foreign skin. For the sake of appearance, he had perfected the art of feigning interest for boring subjects and laughing politely at bad jokes from important business partners of the league.

Sometimes he would catch his reflection in a mirror during such a verbal exchange and shudder at the stranger with the dead eyes looking back at him.

He wouldn't have minded his duties so much, if the fighting itself had remained fun. Instead it had become a chore as well. Ash Ketchum, the unbeatable champion, had more title defenses than any other champion in recorded history, but he also had more fights in two years than all champions combined in their whole career. Only a handful of those battles could be described as memorable. Endless streams of trainers kept challenging him without the hunger to succeed, contempt with merely giving it a half-hearted try against him for their fifteen minutes of fame.

Long gone were the times of adventures and wonder, when the outcome of his battles weren't already a surefire thing. Ash couldn't fathom the possibility of losing anymore in view of his challengers. How could people like these beat any of the gym leaders of his childhood?

The only form of respite from the monotony were the occasional battles against the former champions. Trainers like Cynthia, Wallace, or Lance constantly tried to reclaim their titles and managed to ignite the spark of excitement for a bit, but none of them had actually been able to defeat him and the margin of his wins got bigger at an alarming rate.

The last battle in Sinnoh against his rival Paul, Ash won with only one of his own pokemon defeated. He had been surprised as much as Paul from this outcome.

It was getting easier and more dull by the day. By the age of eighteen and two years into his reign as absolute champion, he stood at the top unchallenged. Nobody could touch him and his pokemon in battle.

Ash Ketchum was the undisputed Pokemon Master, and It drove him slowly to the point of insanity.

"Rydon, nooooo!"

Ash came back from his musings about the past and noticed the last pokemon of his opponent going down. Pikachu had ended it quickly through an Iron Tail to the face. The electric mouse looked so bored afterwards it hurt Ash to watch. His partner wasn't faring any better with their current situation, barely able to hide a yawn in front of the massive behemoth lying to his tiny feet.

After five years of rigorous and grueling training with his pokemon, everything seemed like a piece of cake. Together they had pushed themselves to their limit and then some, and not one of his partners had met an equal since their return to the stadium.

Most of Ash's pokemon weren't fighting anymore against challengers for that exact reason, using their extensive free time for amusement and relaxation at Professor Oak's place. Ash felt they deserved at least this much after making him a champion and staying at his side for all this time. The only constant in his team was Pikachu and he didn't bring any others for his six on six battles.

And while technically against the rules, somebody had yet to come far enough to notice his understaffing.

"Pika..." The small, electric rodent raised a fist at the crowd, which earned him some applause and mild cheers from the apathetic audience. Ash didn't blame them for their underwhelming reaction. Nobody believed in a win against the unbeatable champion and only appeared to see how close a trainer could get before getting stomped into the ground.

"The challenger Georgie Simmons has been defeated! Our winner and still reigning champion is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," The announcer said in a tone that matched the overall mood in the Indigo arena. Ash had great memories of his first tournament in this place and made it his permanent location to accept challenges.

Nowadays, he couldn't care less where he fought.

Going through the same old motions, everyone waited for the champion's lukewarm words of gratitude and encouragement to his opponent; A gesture mandated by the Pokemon League officials for publicity's sake and wasted breath in his opinion. Besides Paul and a few champions, not a single challenger had ever stood before him twice and they would rather eat Raticate droppings than tolerating words of encouragement from Ash after a loss.

The defeated opponent, a little boy from Saffron City, walked over the battlefield and looked at the champion expectantly with his hand outstretched for a handshake. "I was so close to beating one of your pokemon! I got so much more hits in against your pikachu than expected!"

Ash looked up to the board to see what pokemon the kid had been using. He saw five golems and a Rydon. Everyone, except Pikachu, failed to notice the little twitch running across Ash's face. "You only used ground and rock pokemon against me..."

The boy rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Well my pokemon are relatively new. My dad bought them as preparation for the battle."

His opponents had small ambitions in general, but this was a new low even for those standards. This kid hadn't even challenged him to become the champion. In a six on six battle, he was satisfied with a single win against Pikachu through overwhelming type advantage.

Ash felt the urge to cry and scream. This was his life now after all the shit he had to endure to get here. Trapped in an endless circle of meaningless fights and meaningless chores for a faceless organisation to keep a meaningless title from second rate trainers with less ambition than a Snorlax.

"How did you get through the Elite Four of your region?" Ash asked in a low tone.

The boy stared at him confused. "Elite what? Doesn't ring a bell. I've been told to take a number after showing my badges."

Suddenly the increased rate of trainers made a lot more sense to Ash.

"Mrs. Goodshow? May I have a word with you?" Ash said sharply towards the youngest member on the officials table. Eliza Goodshow, granddaughter of the former Pokemon League chairman Mr. Goodshow, stood up with an irritated groan and slithered elegantly in her high heels over to the battlefield with no difficulties whatsoever.

"What's the problem, Mr. Ketchum?" the blonde said with a flip of her hair as the paradigm of a drop-dead gorgeous businesswoman.

"How did that happen?" Ash asked, trying desperately to hold his composure.

"How did what happen, sir?" The venom in her voice wasn't lost on Ash. Eliza Goodshow didn't share many of the positive qualities of her grandfather. The old man had to drastically cut back on his duties and didn't command power in the Pokemon League anymore, passing the leadership over to his assistants and people like his granddaughter who behaved like the usual upper-class elite snobs.

She expected to be treated as superior by people she perceived beneath her. To supervise a commoner from a backwater town like Pallet didn't match with those expectations, and she showed her displeasure openly and constantly.

"How could this boy get so far?" he asked, pointing around in the general vicinity of the young trainer. "Where are the Elite Four of Kanto? Why are they not here?"

"Budget cuts, sir." Mrs. Goodwill answered boredly while checking her phone. "Management agreed on eight badges being enough to qualify for a title shot and transferred the Elite Four to other branches of the Pokemon League."

Ash was close to a full-blown breakdown. "Why would they do that? Badges don't mean anything anymore! Kanto alone has forty gyms and they give those damn things away like candy at the entrances! I need some capable trainers to sort the rabble out!"

"Hey! I'm not—"

"Be honest with me!" Ash interrupted the little boy firmly, causing him to downcast his eyes on the ground in shame. "How many badges did you get without a fight?"

Mrs. Goodwill readjusted her spectacles with a frown. "You're causing a scene, Mr. Ketchum. The decision has already been made and as champion you have the responsibility to defend your title against anyone we deem suitable." Her cold eyes laid on Ash's opponent, who cowered away. "No matter how disappointing the challenger turns out to be."

"You're right." Ash said, going back to being calm and guiding his fingers to the shiny pin on his collar. Clumsily he unhooked the clasp and took a good look at the symbol. The World champion badge in his hand in combination with the World champion trophy, represented everything he once strived for and were the material proof of his status as the best in the world.

And he wanted to become a champion because…

The purpose of training had been…

He drew a blank.

"You want my advice, kid? You want to know what it takes to be a champion?" Ash took a knee to get on the boy's eye level and grasped his shoulders. "You have to forget your principals and dignity. That's the first thing you lose when they cart you out here to dance for them like a clown."

"Mr. Ketchum this is completely unacceptable behaviour from a League champion!"

Ash couldn't care less about the babbling of this woman. He needed to get his point across to save this kid from a mistake. He noticed the bloody scrapes he got from kneeling onto a rock. "Also get knee pads, because you'll be kissing a lot of ass in your career and they expect you to do it on all fours without complaining."

"I don't want to do that…" the boy said with disgust.

Ash smiled sadly and got up. "Good. Then you're already smarter than I was, Georgie."

Mrs. Goodwill squeezed between them and poked Ash sternly in the chest. "Stop this nonsense right this instant! You're our champion! We made you! We pay you! We own you! You're nothing without us! Who do you think you are!?"

"CHUUUUU!"

A lightning bolt over her head answered the question. Pikachu was furious now. Nobody talked to his trainer like that, and the pompous lady would learn that the hard way while fleeing in panic. One of the powerful electro attacks hit the trophy stand during her retreat, melting the golden prize cup to a burning puddle.

"Piiiii…." Pikachu stopped in shock and looked at his trainer. Pikapi would surely be angry with him for destroying something this valuable.

Its destruction changed very little for Ash. A fleeting pang of nostalgia at most. For him, nothing of value was lost with that thing. He remembered faintly the pride from winning the trophy, but seeing the smoldering remains now made him feel nothing at all.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu replied in confusion, clearly not understanding the uncaring expression on his face. What was going on with Pikapi? Nonetheless, he climbed on Ash's shoulder and rubbed his cheek against his face to console him.

Shakily, he took the microphone that Mrs. Goodwill had dropped on her hasty retreat, turning towards the camera to address the audience.

**"****_Good evening, my name is Ash Ketchum. You all know me as a champion, but originally I was just a little boy from a town called Pallet in pursuit of a dream."_**

In a small cozy home from the mentioned town, Mr. Mime took the shaking hands of Delia Ketchum as her eyes kept glued to the flickering image of her son on the screen.

**"****_I travelled the world to battle the best and beat the best. Against all odds, I survived those hardships and became the greatest pokemon trainer alive today. Indomitable and unbeatable, like I always wanted to be."_**

Somewhere in a hotel room, Paul threw his drink at the tv in outrage.

**"****_Here's the deal though. You only see what you are supposed to see. There's a lot behind the scenes you obviously don't know, so I will take a few moments to give you some insights."_**

In Kalos, Serena leaned a bit more forward on the couch, completely captivated by the unfolding Ash was almost unrecognizable without his trademark smile.

**_"I am a guy for all intents and purposes, never should have even made it this far. A bumbling buffoon without natural talent and only a very thick head to bash against insurmountable roadblocks."_**

Iris was angry with herself. His five years of vanishment should have been a dead giveaway. Ash had never came off as overly frustrated during her travels with him through Unova, always smiling and joking through every hardship. Now it seems like there were some serious skeletons in his mental closet.

**"****_But even densest skull breaks under enough punishment. My mind was finally made up after my loss in Kalos at eleven years old. It was do or die. The next shot would be my last grasp for the top before calling it quits and I trained accordingly."_**

Cynthia's mouth went dry as she kept watching from the bleachers, well hidden amongst the crowd of silent fans. As former Sinnoh champion she experienced the labours of his training firsthand and was almost sure that nobody had seen Ash's best yet. A thought that was infuriating and frightening at the same time.

**"****_It sounds like a fairytale, doesn't it? The underdog prevailing against all odds, going the distance for the last time to fulfill his dream. You could even make a halfway decent movie out of that. Makes oneself wonder why I feel like putting a gun to my head."_**

Gary Oak gritted his teeth in front of a flickering screen in Pallet Town Laboratories. The young researcher shuddered from the hollow chuckle that came out of speakers from his computer. Not in a million years, he could have imagined hearing such a macabre joke from Ash Ketchum.

He prayed to Arceus that it was a joke**.**

**"****_There are many things in the past seven years I regret, but here's the gist of it: Every success came with a price and consider this well if you want to walk in my footsteps. Simply put, I'm nothing more than the obedient lapdog of the Pokemon League and I'm not even mad at them for exploiting me. Why would I? The loss of my pride and freedom is nothing in comparison to everything else I gave up in the years before that."_**

Dawn turned the device in her room off. This person didn't look or sound like the Ash Ketchum she knew. He looked like the bare skeleton of that boy, tired and ready to give up. Hurriedly, she began packing her bags for a long travel from Sinnoh to Kanto.

**"****_I went through hell and I did it all willingly. I forsook my friends and family for glory, wasted my childhood and risked my life, sentencing my Pokemon to the same fate."_**

"Pi…" Pikachu cooed, telling him it's alright. They'd stuck with Ash for a reason. All of his pokemon felt that way.

May hugged her pillow tighter, silently watching the broadcast in hope that Max didn't see this on his pokemon journey. How would her brother react when he saw his idol and source of inspiration crumble? She could barely hold herself together at the pitiful sight, wanting to help him instead of wasting time here in Hoenn.

**"****_People often called me stupid in the past. They were right. I'm an idiot."_**

In the Cerulean City Gym, Misty shouted angrily into her phone to ask Brock if he knew about this, before turning back to the television broadcast with sad eyes. Stupid little runt! Why hadn't she looked after him more? He obviously needed help.

**"****_This little badge is all I have to show for as accomplishment. The spoils of a life dedicated to reach a goal no matter the cost." _**

A metallic plink ran through the dead silent stadium as the badge dropped on the ground.

**"****_In hindsight, I rather would've had nothing."_**

Ash stepped on the fragile item and shattered it under his heel.

**"****_I'm officially retired."_**


	2. Chapter 2

"Stop calling this number, I don't know where he is!"

Delia Ketchum was a patient woman, but the Pokemon League was pushing her to the limit with their constant barrage of calls at phone calls. Pallet was a quiet little town and the inhabitants liked to stay away from the hectic of the world.

"Your son and his pokemon are very powerful. The Pokemon League does believe that the safety of the general public could not longer be guaranteed with Ash Ketchum being unchecked and unsupervised."

"My son isn't dangerous! Leave him alone!" Delia screamed into the phone, outraged by those unfounded accusations.

"Mrs. Ketchum please," the voice on the other side sounded desperate, "The pokemon in his care are monstrous and he's shown signs of mental instability! Should your son go off the deep end, there would be almost nobody who would even have a chance to stop him!"

The phone hit the receiver with force. Delia had heard enough.

"_How did my little boy endure these people for three years?"_ she thought grimly, before the answer hit her.

He did until he broke.

Ash had never been an attentive kid when it came to family, but Delia should have noticed that something was wrong. The bi-weekly calls slowly turning monthly and yearly at its worst, the vague description of everything that involved him in his letters, and most of all his appearance every time she saw him on the news. Delia Ketchum prouded herself as a great judge of character, so why didn't she notice the change in her son?

The possible answer in her mind hurt more than anything. They had estranged from each other over the years. While Ash traveled the world, she stayed at home and lived her life without him. The times he'd been in Pallet felt more like visits than homecomings, only long enough to catch up a little before he set out again.

Further evidence was how she knew next to nothing of the circumstances that led to this outburst on his last match, even after a whole week had passed. She had only the same knowledge than any gossip prone stranger from the street and as his mother she considered this a failure on her part. The phone wasn't standing still in the Ketchum household since his vanishment, either flooded by incoming calls or occupied by her own desperate tries to somehow get a hold of her son. Serena had been the first to find out that his phone wasn't reachable anymore, replaced by a monotone computer voice telling her the number didn't exist.

The poor girl had been crying bitterly when she called Delia about that. She felt a certain responsibility for her childhood friend as his last known travel companion before his five year absence. Like in those years, nobody currently knew his whereabouts, with friends like Brock, Misty and even Gary going so far as to leave everything and search for him all over the region for the last few days.

Them, and many people with less noble intentions.

"_Hello Pokemaniacs, Chad Thompson here and this is Pokenews International on Channel 6. Today we reach Day 8 of the Ketchum watch. Remember viewers, anyone who can provide our newsstation with a physical proof of Mr. Ketchum's whereabouts, is eligible for reward money up to 20.000 pokedollars in cash. Lets go boys and girls! Get the champion and get the dough!"_

She turned off the tv with a disgusted face. Normally, she wouldn't tolerate this dreck, but a glimmer of hope made her turn on the station regularly for possible information. Anything about her son was welcome at this point.

*ding dong*

Except the amount of press he'd invoked on their doorstep. "I swear if this is another news team coming for an interview I will murder—"

Delia opened the door in anger, almost ripping it out of its hinges and saw no frightened reporters staring back at her. Looking down though, she found the yellow culprit pouting up at her.

"Pika."

It was Pikachu. Alone.

Shivers ran down Delia's spine. Professor Oak had said that Ash had only one Pokemon with him at all times. Him being here on his own, could have a multitude of reasons and most of them not good.

"Pikachu, where is Ash?"

A heavy weight lifted from her chest as Pikachu used his little paw to point down the road. There, as a little speck in the distance, came a large figure walking painstakingly slow towards her home. The small mouse looked at her pleadingly like it was begging her to do something, but she waited patiently at the opened door for him. A walk that should take a minute, stretched to several as he came closer.

Ash looked up from his feet as he stood right before her. "Hello… mother."

The joy of having her son back got overshadowed by a first good look at his face. She couldn't believe that bundle of nerves was her son. He was making himself small, taking off his hat and playing around with it.

"May I come in?" He said in a voice that sounded strange and without the usual cheerfulness.

"Of course… Ash, where have you…" Delia said, losing her train of thought through an unusual sight.

Her unruly and chaotic son wiped his shoes on the mat, carefully took them off, and neatly put them away in the designated compartment. Afterwards he took a cautious step from the entrance under her watchful eyes before speaking.

"I won't bother you for long, I swear. There's something from my old stuff that I need to get. It will only take a minute then I'm out of your hair again." Ash couldn't look at his mother the whole time he spoke and kept fidgeting nervously with the hat in his hands. "Alternatively, I could tell you what it is, if you don't want me stomping through your house."

Delia's eyes grew wide as saucers. Ash was legitimately asking if he was bothering her. She'd been right, he considered himself a stranger.

"Is my room still there?"

Her heart was close to shattering into a thousand pieces.

"Oh, Ash…" She cried and pulled him into a hug.

Her son stiffened under the sudden contact, his arms firmly pressed at his sides. Soon he loosened up, letting his head sink into her shoulder.

Then Delia heard the sound of sobbing.

Not the loud wails of a child coming home with scraped knees and busted lips. She wished it were that simple. These quiet, muffled sobs of defeat were so much more heart rending to listen to. Pikachu watched from afar with sad eyes, unsure if he should approach them in their tender moment.

Delia saw it though and waved him over to scoop up the little pokemon into a group hug with them.

"Can I stay here, Mom? Please… I don't know where to go... I have lots of money… I can pay rent… Or help around the house… Anything..."

"Shhh, it's alright…"

"No it's not!" Delia Ketchum strengthened her grip around her son as he started shaking. "I'm a horrible person! You should hate me! They all probably do and I deserve it! Who would want a friend that strips people out of his life like that? Who would want a son like that?"

"Ash Ketchum! Stop spouting nonsense!"

"But..."

"Don't talk back to your mother!" she flicked his forehead, "You were a wonderful child and you became a wonderful young man. Your heart is big and your soul is gentle, making people gravitate towards you and letting them find those qualities in themselves."

"Even if that were true," he said, getting a scolding glare from his mother. "It's been so long ago…"

"You are scared and confused. That is natural after what happened. Something you dreamed about all your life didn't turn out how you wanted it to be. I'm here for you, and so are your 'll be here soon enough when they find out where you are."

That was the truth. She knew one that was already coming to stay in Pallet Town, let alone the ones in search for him. Delia would call them as soon as possible.

"Are you hungry?" Delia asked.

Some of the old spark returned to his eyes. "What are you making?"

"Your favourite. Potato stew with extra greens and just a hint of bay leaf."

"You remembered…"

"Of course I do. I'm your mother. Now get clean young man and take Pikachu with you! You two stink like a Skuntank!"

Ash walked up the steps and came to a halt on the last one. "I love you mom."

Delia Ketchum had to stop herself from running up the stairs and giving her son another hug. The corners of his mouth barely moved upward instead of the blinding smile she remembered from him.

"I love you too, son. Never doubt that."

Ash nodded and entered the bathroom, Pikachu slipping in before the door closed. Rusty memory reared up in his mind to find the necessary toiletries to draw a bath. He sat on the edge of the tub and watched it fill up with steaming water. Pikachu was fighting with a bottle and emptied a lot more than necessary, resulting in man-high mountains of bubbly foam.

The small mouse dove headfirst into the tub and splashed the whole room with soapy water. Ash laughed and paused when the unfamiliar sound echoed from the tiles. He couldn't remember to have had anything to laugh about in recent memory.

The young man undressed and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He ignored the multitude of scars and blemishes along his body and honed in on his signature hairstyle. The unique cut had made him recognizable and marketable in the past.

A part of his past he wanted to leave behind.

"I need a haircut," he mumbled towards his reflection in the mirror before it vanished from fogging up with steam.

Ash slowly lowered himself into the hot water and sighed in relief. Pikachu took his favourite spot on Ash's lap and waited to be cleaned. The pokemon didn't have to wait long before a sponge rubbed along the back of his neck and he cooed contentedly before gnawing on a floating bath toy.

"I never apologized to you."

Pikachu stopped his fierce battle with the rubber psyduck and looked at Ash questioningly.

"You have earned this title as much as I did, and I quit without putting your opinion into consideration."

Pikachu thought about it. He loved battling other pokemon, the thrill of defeating your enemy with skill and power, but the eight shiny pieces of metal for the bigger piece of shiny metal never interested him much. It was more a bonus to make his trainer happy than anything, and when he didn't want them anymore, so be it.

"We haven't talked much since we left. Are you mad with me?"

The small critter shook his head vehemently. His Pikapi was completely wrong with that assumption. True, he hadn't talked or played with him much, but only because he thought that Ash didn't want to be bothered in his brooding. If Pikachu had known, he would have comforted him all the way home.

Two strong arms pulled themselves around Pikachu. "I'm glad you don't. We came a long way from being chased around by a wild flock spearrows, huh?"

Pikachu nodded, letting himself coddled like a stuffed toy. Such displays of affection weren't unusual between them. Ash had a deep emotional connection to all of his pokemon and wasn't embarrassed to show it openly.

"You're one of the best things that ever happened to me. I don't know where I would be without you by my side."

His chin rested gently on Pikachu's head.

"I love you, buddy."

...

_*sniffle*_

Ash picked Pikachu up and stared at his face in shock. "Was that a... Are you... crying?"

"Pi..." Pikachu said, trying to look away.

"You are! Oh my arceus, I moved you to tears!"

"Piikaaa…."

"Not in the bathtub! Not in the bathtub!"

"CHUUUUUUU!"


	3. Chapter 3

The forest between Viridian City and Pallet Town was a road well traveled but could still be dangerous for careless travelers

"Come on, Misty! Slow down a notch!"

"We have to get to Pallet, Brock!"

The two travellers hurrying at a brisk pace through the foliage had neither the luxury nor the desire to think about the dangers. A single phone call had made anything else irrelevant.

"You heard his mother. Ash isn't leaving any time soon." Brock wanted to see his old friend as soon as possible, but his determination and stamina paled in comparison to his companion.

Misty Waterflower was a woman on a mission.

"I believe that when I see it for myself. It wouldn't surprise me if he already ran off to a new adventure."

She wanted, no needed to see if Ash was okay. After making sure of his well being, she would knock some sense into him for worrying everybody.

"This time it's different, Misty. You saw him in that stadium."

Yes she had, and Misty couldn't forget it for the past week.

A part of her wanted to shake this imposter and bring the old Ash back; The happy little boy from Pallet she went on adventures with through thick and thin.

Some part of her was scared what they would find in the home from Mrs. Ketchum, because Ash had always been an unchanging constant in her life. Misty would never admit it, but she had always admired Ash's tenacity and unshakable will against all odds.

Seeing it break live on international television almost broke something in her as well.

Brock, seeing the dark thoughts play out on Misty's expression, decided to change the subject and might as well address the elephant in the room.

"Why did you decide to wear your old outfit?"

Misty blinked, glanced down on herself and blushed. Her side ponytail probably was the only thing that hadn't changed. Nine years can do wonders for turning a scrawny little girl into a beautiful young woman.

People called her the fourth Sensational Sister without a hint of sarcasm. She had filled out quite nicely, getting curvy in all the right places to the joy of the males in her occasional water show.

Everyone except Brock, who thought of Misty like one of his siblings and couldn't help but feel the need to play the role of big brother. A brother that had to stop his sister from dressing like a streetwalker.

The tight fitting yellow tank top from her youth pronounced her grown bust and left little to the imagination. The red suspenders were thankfully placed on the right angle to cover up anything that could hardened with the flimsiest of cold breezes, making Brock question her decision to forgo wearing a bra with this skimpy ensemble. Her jean shorts seemed equally tight, showing off her butt and long legs as they ended in white tennis shoes.

The whole look had worked on her as a child, but just looked wrong and silly at age twenty. The individual parts of clothing were the same, but in combination they wouldn't fit anymore. It came off more like a slutty Misty costume for Halloween than the real deal.

Brock felt the need to tell her that. "No, seriously. Why did you squeeze yourself into this? Ash's mother is not gonna like it!"

"I don't know!" she exploded into his face, "It seemed like a good idea at the time." With a heavy gulp she noticed Pallet coming into view. "You know... for old times sake."

"Misty…" Brock smiled in lieu of the silliness of the situation. Misty, a twenty year old woman, had squeezed herself in old childhood clothes to increase the chances of being recognized.

The woman carried a torch for Ash that was big enough to be seen from orbit.

"I don't think Ash will complain. He changed too."

_"Oh, boy had he…"_ Misty thought with a swallow. The little runt from Pallet had grown as much as she had. Maybe even more. Her sisters owned quite a bit of posters and magazines with him on the cover, posing in suits and expensive outfits.

And really sad eyes…

"Just hurry, Brock. We are almost there."

Mister Mime stopped his sweeping of leaves and waved at the two gym leaders entering the front lawn of Delia's house. Misty and Brock acknowledged the gesture with a quick nod and stopped at the front door.

A quick intake of breath and three knocks later, they both waited and listened to somebody approach the door and unlocking it.

"Listen, my mom said to not engage with the press, but if you don't stop harassing her I will sic my Charizard on your…"

The deeper but unmistakable voice of Ash Ketchum faltered in the presence of his two oldest friends.

Misty felt silly for worrying about keeping her look. The young man in front of her was Ash no doubt, but not a single thing had remained the same.

The wild and chaotic mess of hair had changed to a neatly trimmed buzzcut. He had a healthy amount of styled stubble on his face, indicating a desire to keep it that way.

Ash wore no hat and he looked naked without one, although it was understandable that he wouldn't wear merch from the Pokemon League anytime soon.

But all the changes paled in comparison to the raw fear and shame in his eyes. Ash stood like petrified, not even budging an inch when Pikachu jumped on his back and peeked at the visitors over Ash's head.

"Pikachu-Pi! Pika-Chu!"

The little pokemon was a lot more enthusiastic about the arrival of his second and third favourite human. He flew like a yellow rocket into the arms of Misty, who was shocked out of her stupor.

"Pikachu, I missed you so much!" She cradled him like a toddler and tickled his belly. "You and your adorable little pudge!"

Delia came into view to see what the commotion was about. "Ash? Who is at the… Misty, Brock! It's so good to see you! Come in for some tea and cake. It's fresh out of the oven."

The invitation rang in Ash's ears like a gong. Every pair of eyes rested on him, watching him standing in the doorway and blocking entrance like a moron.

Delia, Arceus bless her soul, showed understanding to his plight. "Ash, you have to let go of the door. They can't get in otherwise."

"Yes, of course…" He stepped aside against the wall, pressing so tight against it as if he wanted to sink through it.

Brock and Misty entered under a thick cloud of awkwardness, until a loud shriek almost made them jump back outside.

"What are wearing young lady? Did you walk around town like that!?"

The tension broke between the three friends, each of them thankful for the loud interruption. Delia considered herself a mother figure to the parentless girl, and no daughter of hers would present herself like that in public.

"She had no choice, Mom," Ash said quickly, cutting her rant on modesty short. "They encountered some wild Pokemon who ruined her clothes. Her old outfit was all she had as spare in that old bag."

"Oh," Delia replied, seemingly appeased and surprised at the sudden initiative of her son. "Then let me get you some of my old clothes, you poor thing."

Ash watched the two women walk upstairs, noticing how his eyes were naturally drawn to the apple-shaped backside of his former travel companion.

"That was quick thinking, Ash." Brock broke the ice and showed a small smile

"Thank you."

From their close proximity Brock could tell that he only had an inch in height over their former runt of the group and a lot less muscle. Whatever training he has been through over the years, Ash hadn't been satisfied by only getting his pokemon into shape.

"She put on her old outfit for you by the way."

Ash gazed at the ceiling, eyes getting glossy and unfocused. Although Brock had mellowed out significantly in his quest for the fairer sex, he recognized that look instantly as the result of rampant male imagination.

Little Ash had become an adult.

"Is that so? That's nice of her."

Even though, he still was very coy about it.

Delia Ketchum might not own the most exciting wardrobe, but the ensemble she had picked for Misty didn't fail to have an impact.

"We're back! What do you think about the new Mrs. Waterflower?"

A pair of old tight fitting jeans from Delia's youth replaced the skimpy shorts, but nonetheless stuck to her shapely legs like a second skin.

Her side ponytail was undone and her shoulder length orange hair swayed and sparkled with every step down the stairs.

The knockout punch to his senses came from in between. Somehow, his mother had thought it was a good idea to give Misty one of his shirts. An old baseball jersey from the Electrobuzz team to be exact, a farewell gift from Casey when they left Goldenrod City almost ten years ago.

The feeling of nostalgia was overwhelming and yet it wasn't as strong as the pleasant shudders he got from seeing Misty in it.

"You are beautiful…"

Misty almost choked on her spit while Ash went wide-eyed from the words his mouth had produced.

The scheming grin on Brock's face made Ash shudder. "If that isn't a compliment, huh Misty? What do you have to say about that?"

"Thank you, Ash… I appreciate the compliment." Misty mumbled, unable to look at him.

"No problem…" Ash instinctively reached for the visor of his cap to pull it down and hide the blushing, only to realize he wasn't wearing one.

Mrs. Ketchum had mercy with the two. "Let's get to the kitchen before the tea gets cold. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Three humans and a pokemon followed her to take a seat at the kitchen table. Ash listened intently to the questions his mother asked and the answers she got from his friends. On several occasions he felt like asking something himself, but every time the words got stuck in his throat.

Delia was thorough enough for Ash to get the gist of what he had missed in the last nine years.

Brock was preparing his brother Forrest to take over the gym in Pewter City and studied for his degree in pokemon breeding. He had a few promising offers for an internship and a lot of great ideas for his graduation thesis.

Misty was very busy with her gym, because her sisters worked now full-time at their show. She participated as fourth Sensational Sister on occasion and sold it as a special event. The newest development was the retirement of Agatha from the Elite Four of Kanto and rumours of Misty in the short list of possible candidates.

She sounded genuinely excited about the prospect, but Ash couldn't stop his expression from darkening. The Elite Four were a sore spot for him and he took a deep breath to cool his temper. The real culprit was and always have been the Pokemon League. It enabled all the bad practices and laziness for the sake of profit.

Besides, didn't he leave all of it behind at the stadium? What did he care if the whole sport of pokemon battling went down the drain?

"Ash, you are awfully quiet. Is everything alright?"

"Just thinking about stuff mom."

"Care to share, Mr. Pokemon Master?" Misty had said it in jest, trying to rekindle some of the playful banter from their past. She realized her mistake the moment it came over her lips.

"Don't call me that."

Her heart froze from his icy tone and screamed at Misty to apologize, but the petty part of her mind didn't listen. "Lighten up, Ash. It's not the end of the world."

"I am hesitant to take advice from somebody whose dream is a smaller version of mine, Mrs. Water Pokemon Master."

Misty grabbed a pokeball from her belt and expanded it with a button push. "Is that a challenge? You never beat me or Brock during your second round through Kanto!"

That was true. Ash had battled one of their siblings in each gym. At the time, he had planned it as such to keep a shameful secret about his reign.

It was time to come clean with them.

"You can't beat me. Please don't force the issue. You are the two trainers I won't insult by holding back."

The pokeball slipped from Misty's grasp and fell into her tea cup. "What do you mean?"

Ash fell silent and avoided her gaze.

"Ash, look at me!"

"…"

"Ash!" Misty pulled him over the table by the collar of his shirt. Nose to nose she stared him down for answers. All he could think of was how soft Misty's quivering lips looked and how sweet her breath smelled.

"... for the last three years I've been fighting with self-imposed handicaps to make it more interesting."

She let go. "What kind of handicaps?"

The dam of silence broke and Ash burst forth with anything and everything on his mind.

"Whatever I could think of at the time. Always fighting on type advantage, only using basic moves, leaking my team and order of usage to the public… the list got longer and longer over three years.

"The former champions realized it first and never forgave me for it. Paul almost went insane over fruitlessly trying to prove how foolish it was to gamble with my success. He thought I would slip up eventually."

"And?" Misty noticed Ash's shaking hand and took it. It was large and calloused, her own hand vanishing in it as he responded by grasping her fingers.

"It got easier to win. I haven't used a second pokemon in months."

"Nobody is that good Ash." Misty mumbled with a hint of bitterness in her voice. She still couldn't grasp the problem of being too good at something.

"That hope kept me from breaking much faster. I'm tired of waiting for a challenge." His thumb stroked gently over the back of her hand. "What frustrates me the most is what this useless endeavor has cost me."

"What would that be?" Misty had a beet red face from his tender touch and apt interest in the softness of her skin.

He looked up at her and swallowed the lump in his throat. "You."

The simple statement left the rest at the table speechless. Ash figured he'd been too forward and let go, pulling away from the table and further into his chair.

It took a lot of restraint from Misty not to dive over the table and grasp for his retreating hand. She hid her desire by crossing her arms and coughing.

Ash raised an eyebrow but she signaled him to continue. "I wasted years running after a pointless dream. Years I could have spent with people I love instead of pushing them away."

This time she couldn't resist taking his hand again. "Ash we forgive you. None of us would have bothered with searching for you otherwise. Brock and I have only been the closest to Pallet when the call of your mother came. Expect a lot more of them to show up."

Ash was touched, but also visibly confused as if the thought of somebody still caring for him was ludicrous. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble. You all surely had better things to do than wasting your time on me."

"You are important to us Ash," she said softly, feeling her insides get all gooey from the hopeful expression on his face. "But if you feel so bad about it, there are a lot of chores waiting to be done at my gym for a guy with a lot of free time. See it as an extension for the bike you still owe me."

Of course, Misty wasn't serious about her offer. It was meant as a small inside joke between them. They would bicker a bit, laugh about it and move on.

Only Ash didn't see it that way. "I'll pack my stuff. If we hurry we can be in Cerulean City by tomorrow."

Misty grabbed him by the arm to stop the enthusiastic man from leaving. "Ash wait, you want to work for me?"

"Why not? Is there a problem with me helping around at your gym?"

"Well… not really but…"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Delia and Brock had been careful to this point not to interrupt the much needed talk while Pikachu was busy devouring the delicious cake. That situation changed instantly with three spittakes, two tea and one crumbs, flying across the table.

The only people not showing much of a reaction were Ash and Misty. The former looked like he had asked about the weather and the latter didn't seem too confused for big reactions.

"What?"

"I figured your boyfriend might object with another man living under your roof."

"Ash, I'm still single."

"Ok."

The growing smile on his face was the biggest any of them had seen since Ash had come back. Pikachu nodded knowingly at his two favourite humans. When he couldn't help Pikapi anymore, Pikachu-Pi always knew to make his trainer happy.

Although she never seemed to realize it. "Ash, do you really think doing menial tasks for me is the right thing for you?"

"What? Did you think working in a gym is beneath the great champion?" Ash asked with a frown.

Another ring at the door cut off the opportunity for an answer. Ash excused himself from the table to deal with the interruption.

Misty was left confused while Delia and Brock exchanged knowing looks.

"Misty," Delia said slowly to the baffled woman, "my sweet but sometimes a little dense son has offered to help you out and asked if you're in a relationship with somebody."

Some inner mental blockade didn't allow Misty to come to the logical conclusion, so Delia had to spell it out to her. "I think my Ash is showing romantic interest in you."

Misty's eyes bugged out in shock.

"Congratulations Misty, seems like the outfit was good for something..."

"Brock, shut up!" Misty gave him a hearty slap over the head, before turning back to Delia. "You must be wrong Mrs. Ketchum. Ash has not a single romantic bone in his body. He's too focused on becoming the best to be interested in anything else."

It has always been that. The thought alone was absurd and challenged one of her fundamental truths she knew. The grass was green, the sky was blue, Ash Ketchum only had pokemon on his mind.

And Mrs. Ketchum shattered her world view with one sentence. "You mean the thing he gave up without a second thought almost a week ago?"

Misty paused and Delia smiled like a Meowth at the girl's thoughtful expression. The youngest sister from Cerulean City was such a sweet girl behind the rough exterior and Mrs. Ketchum had always believed that they would make such a cute couple together.

Thinking about it further, she noticed that all of his female companions would be wonderful choices. Maybe this disaster could have positive outcomes on her chances to have grandchildren someday. A somewhat selfish thought, but she wasn't getting any younger!

"He's still figuring things out, so there's no reason to rush. Just enjoy each other's company and keep an open mind to the possibility during his stay at your home. Would you do that for me?"

Misty was about to answer but loud shouting from outside startled everyone on the table.

"GET OUT OF MY FACE GARY!"

"PIKAPI!"

In an instant, everyone was made aware of Gary Oak's arrival in Pallet Town and hurried to prevent a possible bloodbath between two old rivals.


	4. Chapter 4

Brock and Misty expected a lot of things as they burst outside the house. Seeing an unconscious Nidoking, Arcanine and Blastoise was not on that list.

Gary Oak looked flabbergasted, Ash frustrated and Pikachu a bit sheepish on top of the large pile of Gary's defeated pokemon.

"What happened?" Misty asked Ash, who still was visibly tense.

"Gary and I had a little discussion about my life choices when his pokemon decided startle Pikachu."

The little mouse had the decency to blush and cha a small apology to the fallen opponents.

An apology Gary Oak wasn't ready to accept. "They startled… your little overpowered monster knocked out three of my best pokemon in an instant!"

Misty and Brock began to get an inkling about the real strength of Ash and his pokemon. Gary might have been out of the active battling scene, but the pokemon scientist had never really stopped training.

Getting manhandled in seconds with a three to one advantage showed the immeasurable gap that had grown over the years.

"I'm sorry Gary, but why are you letting them run around our house unsupervised?"

"They were searching for your sorry ass!" Gary pointed angrily at his battered fire pokemon. "Arcanine has followed your scent here. Is that the thanks I get for worrying about you?"

"You did?" The hard edge in Ash's voice vanished. "The first words out of your mouth you used to call me an idiot."

Echoing laughter rang through the front yard, until Gary welled up with tears. "Of course I called you an idiot. Becoming a pokemon master was both our dreams and I tapped out, leaving the responsibility of achieving that goal solely on your reckless shoulders."

The laughter subdues, the tears stayed.

"I should have known that you were the only person dumb enough to try the impossible and becoming miserable after achieving it.

In an instant, Ash had closed the distant to his childhood friend and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Don't you dare feel guilty about doing the smart thing! All of this was my fault and mine alone!"

Nobody said a word as Ash and Gary stared each other down. Seconds turned to minutes without change in their silent mental struggle, until their frowns turned to smiles.

"I need a drink. Care to join me, Ketchum?"

"Try to stop me, Oak!" Ash took out a golden credit card. "We use this baby after getting your pokemon to the Center. All inclusive care package on my expense."

"Look at Mr. Big Shot Moneybags over here." Gary waved Misty and Brock over to join them. "Are your pockets deep enough for them too?"

"You don't have to pay for us," Misty said with a frown but Ash waved it off.

"Nonsense, Misty. I made more money than any person could spend on their own. Being champion had to be good for something."

She saw a glimmer of the old Ash and the genuine happiness made it impossible to argue without feeling like a spoilsport.

Hopefully she could hold her liquor better than at the bachelorette party of her oldest sister last year.

Two hours later and after a few wardrobe purchases, the four humans and Pikachu stood in front of the newest and only club of Pallet Town.

"The humble Caterpie?" Misty plucked at the spaghetti strap of her brand new black slip dress and risked a glance at her matching open toed platform heels.

The nicest outfit she ever got to wear.

Ash had made good on his word and spend a lot of money on a suitable clothes for everybody. Especially on Misty, if her rough estimates were correct.

Flanked by three sharp dressed young men, the usually frugal girl felt like a celebrity. They all looked like a million bucks in their buttoned up shirts, designer pants and formal dress shoes.

Even Pikachu looked dashing with the tiny black bowtie around his neck that he proudly adjusted every few minutes.

"How are they getting customers in a small town like Pallet?"

Gary shrugged. "People from all over the region travel here. The theme appeals to the people."

"What would that be?" Ash showed his identification to the receptionist, who went wide-eyed and took his hand to shake it.

"Mr. Ketchum, It is such an honour to have you as our patron. We will respect your privacy and hope you enjoy the evening in our establishment. Don't hesitate to speak up if any of the exhibits aren't accurate!"

"Exhibits?" Ash asked, but Gary was already pushing him inside the big club area. "What is this place?"

Although hesitant, Ash had allowed Gary to move him until his eyes fell on the first visible thing and became an immovable object.

A life sized portrait of himself as a child stared back at him. He recognized the moment the photograph had been taken from the green pajamas and the very grumpy Pikachu in the arms of his past self.

His first day as pokemon trainer.

"Wow, takes you back doesn't it Ash? I was a real douchebag to you back then."

He ignored Gary's comment. Wherever Ash looked, he saw pieces of his journey; Framed newspaper articles, photographs of battles, a few replicas of trophies and badges under glass displays.

He read the small plaque under the entrance portrait.

_"Humble beginnings of Pallet's most successful son. Greatness can grow from the smallest of things."_

"Pi…" Pikachu vocalized what Ash thought. Utter amazement about the shrine to their travels.

Misty linked arms with the shellshocked trainer and made sure that the equally shocked pokemon didn't fall off Ash's shoulders on the way to the bar.

The little mouse landed on the counter with a thud and Brock pushed a bowl of peanuts toward him on which he started to munch on absentmindedly. Ash sat down in the same manner on an empty barstool, his friends taking seats beside him.

Misty got the seat on his right and Gary on the left. Brock sat on the stool after Misty, already busy scoping out the place for a potential love interest.

"Gin Tonic with a lot more gin than tonic please, and throw in a cheri berry for good measure." Ash said to the barkeep in a manner as if he had done it thousands of times in the past.

Considering his past three years, Misty figured that might be a sad possibility.

She looked at the cocktail menu and felt a bit lost. The girl wasn't very experienced with alcohol beyond sugary beer drinks and new years eve toasts.

"Misty how do you feel about sex on the beach?"

Gary and Brock almost choked on their freshly served drinks. A microsecond later, Ash was pulled towards Misty by his shirt collar, now staring into the blazing eyes of a very angry and very red-faced woman.

"I'm not one of your drooling fangirls! Don't think a nice dress and an invitation will get you anywhere with me, Ketchum!"

A shaky finger pointed at her menu card. "Vodka, peach schnapps and three types of juices."

A quick glance identified the drink on the menu and she let go. It was hard even looking at him after causing a scene. "Just order the cocktail..."

He did and she liked it to his great relief, chugging the whole glass after a first sip and ordering the next one immediately. The buzz would hopefully numb the feeling of embarrassment and every alleviation from it was welcome at this point.

"Alcohol isn't the best remedy for bad feelings. I speak from experience."

She took a deep gulp to spite him. "Any other vices I should know of?"

"I tried smoking to calm my nerves but it didn't do anything for me and Pikachu hates the smell."

"Kachu!" Pikachu agreed, cheeks full of snacks and lapping from a glass of beer.

"Who gave you that? You know how you get when you're drunk!"

"Pi Pikapi!"

"Fine… but not a word to mom."

"Chaaa *_burp_* chuu!"

Gary leaned into their conversation. "Your not much of a role model."

"I made my pokemon beat up other pokemon for a living. Not many wholesome values for kids in that, don't you think?"

Three pairs of eyes watched the bitter young man swirl around liquid in his glass.

"You really are done with the pokemon battling, aren't you?" Gary asked with breathy voice.

Ash nodded and finished his drink, not trusting his mouth to do the right thing. He startled from a sudden warmth on his back. Misty moved her hand in small circles, eyes fixated on her glass.

"You will find something new. Ash Ketchum always lands on his feet."

"For the foreseeable future I'm your man for everything."

"Everything?" Gary leaned back to look at Misty and wiggled his eyebrows without Ash noticing. "Aren't you a lucky girl?"

"Yeah, the luckiest…" the sound of grinding teeth rang through the room.

"I'm just glad she still wants me around."

"Ash…"

Gary punched him in the kidney. "Bad Ash, none of that moody crap tonight! Barkeep, another round!"

One round turned to several and the inhibitions fell in relation to the rising level of alcohol. Brock had actually hit it off with somebody, a nurse Joy fresh from medical school and without much contact to her family to be warned about him.

Gary met two of his old cheerleaders, who were still as infatuated with him as when he was ten years old. Once he realized the implications, the young researcher excused himself for the night and fled the scene.

Which left Misty and Ash.

"Arceus, your body is soft like a pillow. By my authority as Ash Ketchum, I hereby declare Misty Waterflower to be softest who ever was and ever will be."

"Your lap isn't so uncomfortable either. Very squeezable. "

"Really?"

"Yeah, usually I'm all about muscle. Stone-hard Packs all the way!"

"I have six of those!"

"Really? Let me see!"

The two were completely wasted, barely coherent and very grabby with each other since Misty had changed her seat with Ash's lap and he had his arms around the giggling girl's midriff.

"Pi pi Pikapi kachu kachu Pikachupi!"

Pikachu didn't fare much better, lying face down on the counter with a snack bowl on his head while humming random melodies.

"Excuse me Mr. Ketchum? We are closing for tonight and have to ask you to leave. You and your girlfriend are welcome to come back any time."

Ash and Mist froze in their activity, him lifting his shirt and her poking his toned stomach. They looked around and realized everybody else had gone home.

"Already?" Misty slurred heavily with a pout. "But I'm having so much fun!"

Ash had the immeasurable desire to cuddle and coddle this unfairly cute creature on his lap, but settled for a quick nuzzle on the back of her head. "We can continue elsewhere."

"I lost my shoes…" She lifted her bare feet and wiggled them for demonstration purposes.

"Then I will carry you and ensure the safety of your cute little toes."

Misty grinned and let herself be put on his back, her arms wrapped around him. Through the mental fog of his inebriation, Ash realized how intimate they had been tonight. He could already feel sobering up and the usual stings of doubt poking through the cosy blanket of his buzz.

Ash Ketchum would have given an arm and a leg to be with Misty like this forever. Alas, he should be thankful for every moment and decided to cherish her presence more this time around.

"Piiiiii…" Pikachu lifted his arm weakly and Ash put him on his right shoulder like a wet towel. The groggy pokemon had just enough strength to nestle against the neck of his trainer and lick him in appreciation.

The cold night air did it's part to clear their head a bit as Ash walked with his two piggybacked riders through the empty streets of Pallet.

"Where to milady and milord?"

"Somewhere fun."

"Cha…"

Opportunity for entertainment was naturally sparse at three in the morning, so Ash said out loud the first thing that came to mind.

"We could check if some of my pokemon are at Professor Oak's place."

"Why wouldn't they be?" She held on tighter and rubbed her bare soles against his pants to get warm.

Ash shuddered from the pleasant tingles all over his body. "All of my pokemon can go wherever and do whatever they want. It's only fair after what they've done for me. "

"Aren't you scared of them getting caught?"

"By whom?" He crossed the street with their new destination in mind. "Team Rocket? Every single one of my pokemon could defeat anything and everyone out there."

"You really think that you are unbeatable, don't you?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Ash. You obviously hate it."

A comfortable silence fell over them until they reached the residence of the Oak family.

They didn't want to wake up Professor Oak and entered through a small gap in the fence further back. In the meadow, Misty had the need to feel the soft grass under her feet and Ash tossed his expensive shoes and socks in solidarity.

Under the light of a full moon they wandered around with Misty carrying the snoring Pikachu, seeing a multitude of pokemon but none of them belonged to Ash. The young man had guessed this would be the case and yet Misty wasn't fooled by his nonchalant attitude about it.

Ash missed them all very much.

Their little stroll ended at a little cliff, overlooking the quiet ocean.

"A beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I missed this."

"Me too."

"Thank you for letting me back in your life, Misty."

"You were never not, Ash."

It was the perfect storybook moment All they had to do was close in and do what both felt was right.

"Is that black dot on the moon getting bigger?"

_***GROOOAAARR***_

If the world would ever let them get this far.

"Get back Misty." Ash looked deathly serious. "He wants me."

"What is that?"

"An old friend." he said wistfully. "And he sounds pissed."

With the force of a crashing meteor, the shadow landed in front of Ash under an earth shattering boom. Enormous wings spanned to their maximum and the pokemon illuminated itself through igniting a massive flame on its tail.

Ash's Charizard had arrived.

"Hello buddy," Ash cleared his throat. "I guess you heard the news."

Charizard blew black smoke out of his nose and turned his eyes to slits.

"I know you must be disappointed in me. Your trainer was too weak to continue being a champion, a goal you all fought to accomplish for me."

A low grumble came from the large pokemon.

"I would understand if you don't want to be the pokemon of a weakling."

Charizard pounced.

"Ash!" Mist screamed as the large maw of the behemoth closed around Ash's head.

She had to run. She had to get help.

She needed to know why Pikachu wasn't doing anything!

Sudden laughter rang through the night as Ash, still not headless for some reason, tried to pry himself out of the iron grip while Charizard gave him the mother of all wet-willies.

Finally satisfied, the pokemon released him, almost dripping with saliva. They started at each other and came to an immediate understanding.

_**"You didn't abandon me at my weakest. I will stand by you the same, my trainer."**_

"Pi…" Pikachu rolled with his eyes. Charizard could be such a drama queen sometimes.

"I guess that means you will stick around?" Ash asked and smiled when Charizard nodded. "Misty, I think we found our ticket to Cerulean City!"

"What?" She asked as he climbed on Charizard and held out his hand. "Right now?"

"Why not? Charizard is the fastest flyer I know. We could be there before dawn!"

There was that smile again. Her hand moved to take his, although Misty could think of a dozen reasons against it. When confronted with this damn smile, she couldn't help herself but play along with whatever harebrained idea of the man behind it.

It has always been like that.

And it felt good to experience it again.

So, Misty Waterflower, age twenty, sat behind Ash Ketchum and Pikachu to fly for two hours on a Charizard through a cloudless starry sky towards Cerulean City.

And she didn't regret a single moment.


	5. Chapter 5

Misty Waterflower rubbed the sleep from her eyes and winced from the enormous hangover announcing itself with pulsating headaches.

The light burned in her eyes, forcing the girl to turn away from the source and use a pillow as shield.

Her pillow. A pillow from her room.

The room she had not memory of entering before sleep. Misty figured somewhere along the flight, she must have fallen asleep and Ash had carried her inside.

The smile on her face from thinking about that gesture was genuine. Ash could be a real sweetheart. Even her new dress hung neatly over her chair to avoid unnecessary wrinkling.

_"Wait a second… if my dress is over there… that means…_"

Panic overpowered the lethargic state of her body and she threw the comfortable sheets off the bed. In her worst nightmare, she expected to be butt naked, undressed in a vulnerable situation by the man she trusted more than anyone else in the world.

What she saw took her breath away in equal fashion.

She wore something alright, if you could call the black negligee and matching lace panties as clothing. The sinful piece of nightwear was so far removed from her usual pajamas that the young woman stared for a full minute at her state of dress before reacting.

Violently.

"Graaahhh!" The distance between bed and door cleared In two steps, Misty ripped it almost off the hinges in search for the culprit.

The endeavor was cut short by three pairs of hands taking hold on her and pushing the enraged woman back into the room onto her bed.

She clawed, bit and kicked at the assailants, who all grunted and screamed in high feminine voices that she recognized.

"Let go of me! What is the meaning of this?"

The Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City always worked together, which proved to be a big advantage in handling the little nestling of their family.

Daisy, Lily and Violet loved their sister Misty dearly, but her short temper made it often difficult to interact without precaution.

Only the Ketchum boy had a noggin hard enough to withstand her tough love. And according to their fairytale arrival on the wings of his Charizard, Ash cherished their little sister and knew how to treat her like a princess.

The biggest roadblock to her happiness was Misty herself and Daisy had enough. "Listen runt, the boy did nothing to you. He carried you to bed and left. He wouldn't even enter your room without asking first."

"Then why the heck am I wearing this!?"

The three older sisters looked at each other and nodded, deciding their sister was now calm enough to be receptive to their explanation.

"The erotic nightgown was our idea. We figured it couldn't hurt to have it if you take into account how quick your relationship is developing."

The dry admittance of the deed threw Misty off guard. Her sisters interest in her love life was a completely new development and apparently they had no problems with Ash and her skipping some bases.

Quite the opposite, if she considered how they tried to sell the idea of a relationship with him.

Starting with the oldest sister Daisy. "Don't try to deny it! The guy goes missing and you leave everything at the gym behind for the first time in ten years. We had to convince you to close down the gym for my wedding day!"

Violet tagged in with the next salvo. "He spends more money on your dress than her wedding gown and brings you home on his flying steed without any ulterior motives."

Lily finished their summation with the point who held the most water in their eyes. "And he became so hunky and dreamy! Especially now after getting rid of his childish haircut."

The three sisters nodded in agreement and rolled their eyes at her wary expression. She remembered all too well what happened to things from her that they wanted in the past.

Her sisters took them.

"You look like a snubbull guarding its bone. Better get used to women drooling over your man. I mean look at him!"

The three women let Misty up and shoved her towards the window.

The view was the reason she had chosen this room. You could overlook the whole city on a clear and sunny day. More important than that, she could see the complete forecourt of the gym.

A lone figure in blue overalls sat among the green spaces outside with a spade and a bucket. She recognized the new haircut and the activity. "Pulling up weeds? He will be busy for hours!"

Lily looked at her watch. "It has been hours. He started as soon as Pikachu was snuggly covered in bedsheets in our guestroom and his Charizard got a big steak to munch on."

The expression on Misty's face darkened and with a forceful pull, she ripped the flimsy negligee off her body.

"What are you doing?" screeched Daisy in horror at her bare breasted sibling who started to run around the room for more suitable attire.

"Stop nagging and help me find a matching bra! The panties can stay because they feel really comfortable."

Their sister put on her usual attire of sports top and more loosely fitting jean shorts, before climbing out the window to get to Ash quicker.

The three sisters winced as she slipped and fell the last few feet into a bush. "What does he see in her?"

They watched from afar as she pounced Ash from behind and dragged the poor guy into the house by his left ear.

"Maybe a masochistic tendency?"

* * *

The loud protests and moans of Ash Ketchum rang through the Cerulean Gym as Misty kept pulling him into their kitchen and onto a free chair.

"I want you to sit down and think about what you've done while I make us both breakfast." Misty looked at the clock and frowned. "A very late breakfast. Why didn't you wake me up?"

Ash nursed his red ear and shrugged. "You looked like you needed some sleep and I got a weird feeling after your sisters said to come back later for a sexy surprise."

"Those traitorous witches…" Misty put butter in the sizzling pan with more force than necessary "But more importantly, why didn't you go to bed this morning?"

For a split second, Ash looked a lot older than he really was in terms of age; A faraway wistful expression in his face. "I don't need much sleep. Years alone in the wild with only my pokemon has taught me to rest efficiently."

She strongly disliked this melancholic side of him. "Well from now on, you start caring about your health and not efficiency! After eating you go straight to bed, got it?"

"And let you do all the work alone? You said there was a ton of stuff to be done!"

She smiled from his childish protest. "It's Saturday Ash, which means the gym is closed and I do all the paperwork."

He crossed his arms but didn't object any further even though it still visibly bothered him. The old Ash would have kept going until the miltanks come home.

Another point for the list of things she missed.

His new calmness gave her more opportunity to find a middle ground. "Look, another helping hand will do wonders for clearing the weekly schedule, which means a lot less needed catching up and more free time."

She took the cooking spoon from a pan and pointed at him. "Free time this esteemed lady would like to spend with you, Mr. Ketchum."

"It would be my pleasure and honor, Miss Waterflower."

The two trainers were all smiles and giggles from that point on, chatting and musing about anything and nothing.

"Psy?"

The second they both heard the trademark call of Misty's Psyduck, Ash noticed a change come over the cooking woman. Her smile and posture became more stiff with every step of webbed feet echoing through the house.

By the time the yellow duck entered the kitchen, you could have mistaken Misty for a human board. "Hello Psyduck, are you hungry?"

Not a single sound came from the pokemon as it stood beside an empty chair instead of taking a seat. Misty continued cooking like nothing had happened and Ash used the opportunity to take a better look at Psyduck.

The pokemon began to rearrange the forks and knives on the table. Once done, he said his name and changed it back to the earlier placement.

That cycle happened over and over again.

Misty put down a plate with force at the tenth repeat. "I think they are at the right place now, Psyduck!"

The pokemon didn't startle, change expression or react in any other way to the sudden outburst. He just stared and turned around to leave.

Misty's hand holding the pan was shaking.

"Psyduck?" Ash asked, making the pokemon stop. "Do you want something to read?"

He took the newspaper from the kitchen table and put it into in his right flipper. The pokemon had trouble holding it, so Ash took his other flipper and put it on top.

Ash felt a slight twitch from Psyduck before he let go and watched it waddle away.

"He can be a handful these days," Misty apologized for her pokemon. "He doesn't have headaches anymore according to the doctors but it didn't help with his other quirks."

Naturally, the mood was significantly subdued afterwards but Misty tried to bring it back with her cooking.

The times of burning water were long in the past and she hoped to dazzle the young man with a few techniques she learned over the years.

A feat Misty booked as success by his expression when she served the dish. "It smells delicious! Am I now the only one of our group unable to cook?"

Misty sat opposite of him and took a first bite "What did you eat all these years?"

"Pokemon food is very nutritious…"

She almost spit it back out from laughter.

They ate the exceptional breakfast in higher spirits and Misty shooed Ash into bed. She went straight to her office and he slowly made his way to the guest room.

Psyduck was waiting for him.

Only a single page of the newspaper was left, the rest shredded into tiny pieces around him. Ash worried about having angered the pokemon somehow until he saw the content of the remaining page.

_**"A champion in love! Read everything about his new flame!"**_

The article had a stunningly well-shot picture of Ash and Misty at the club. The photographer had managed to capture a moment when she sat on his lap and both of them laughed.

The writer made very disconcerting assumptions about them and he would have done something immediately, but Misty was very clear about what he should do now. This ordeal was a problem for Future Ash. Present Ash had the order to get some sleep.

Let the world think a while longer they were the newest couple on the block.

Arceus knows, he wouldn't mind one bit.

Ash took the page and neatly ripped out the picture to give it to Psyduck. The pokemon just stared at the human, until Ash kneeled down and put it in his flipper again with a gentle squeeze.

His reward was a single tail wag.

"Your welcome. Want to join us for nap?"

They entered the quest room where Pikachu laid on the bed, loudly snoring on his back.

Psyduck stopped in front of it and stared at Ash, who took the sheets carefully to keep Pikachu from waking up and made a small nest on the ground.

The young man laid down on a pillow and closed his eyes to wait. A few moments later the sheets moved and another body rested beside him on another pillow.

"Psy…"

Ash smiled and allowed himself to drift into a deep sleep. Maybe he could do more for Misty than playing the janitor.

It's not for nothing that the world called him the Pokemon Master, even if the title had a bitter aftertaste.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Dear Ms Waterflower,**_

_**We received your request for additional funding of your gym and have to urge you to use the proper channels for any inquires of financial nature. The necessary application for issuance of a standardized proposal form is acquired through the responsible league agency.**_

_**We hope to have answered your question to satisfaction and thank you for the continued support of the Pokemon league.**_

The young gym leader had to put the paper down when it felt like parts of her brain were leaking out of both ears. The mind numbing bureaucracy of her employers was often more excruciating to fight against than any pokemon battle.

It's been hours and it felt like days.

There was a lack of everything through the constant budget cuts her gym had to shoulder. The water facilities and pokemon living areas were only two points on the long list of things in desperate need of repair and modernization.

Money usually came through enlisting students, but Misty was one of the few remaining gym leaders with certain standards. Nowadays, any kid with a pokemon felt entitled for special treatment and acted as such.

Most won't even get past the interview.

Many gyms rescued themselves with sponsorship deals and felt now more like giant billboards for the latest sports drink or pokemon makeup.

Others had succumbed to shadier methods and were openly known for taking bribes in exchange for favors and preferred treatment.

She had heard rumours from gyms selling their badges outright.

Rumours Ash had all but confirmed on national television.

The words of the unbeatable champion had resonated with the people and the consequences could already be felt all over the world. The trust into the authorities was at an all-time low and the Pokemon League struggled to do damage control.

In the form of a lot of phone calls among other measures, and as such, Misty recognized the number from League HQ but not the specific caller when it rang in her office.

She picked up with a heavy sigh. "Misty Waterflower, gym-leader of Cerulean City speaking."

_"Eliza Goodshow, upper management representative of the Pokemon League."_

Misty remembered the fake platinum blonde from screaming demeaning statements in Ash's face during the televised event.

_"Miss Waterflower, it came to our attention that a very high-profile member of our battling staff is currently in your care."_

The conniving witch couldn't even say his name, choking on her own swallowed pride. All protective instincts told her to hang up on the good Mrs. Goodwill. The careful side of her brain urged to stay on the phone to gather intel about their plans for Ash.

But not without a small potshot. "As far as I can remember, terminated this high-profile member his employment in a very permanent manner."

_"That is exactly what we want to talk about with Mr. Ketchum. After internal debate, we are willing to renegotiate his contract."_

Mrs. Goodshow kept a professional tone even if it turned a lot more frosty. Misty wondered in how much trouble she was for letting Ash go. It was almost enough to make her feel sympathy for the woman.

But sadly only almost. "And why are you discussing this matter with me and not him? If you know where he is, why don't you come here and talk in person with Mr. Ketchum?"

The deep sigh from the other side was the first sign of human emotion from the businesswoman.

_"You hold a considerate amount of sway over Mr. Ketchum if the local tabloids can be trusted, so we figured you might influence him to make the right decision."_

"Enlighten me, what that right decision would entail, Mrs. Goodshow."

_"A lot more money and self determination for Mr. Ketchum among other benefits. Very lucrative and prestigious benefits for every person who took part in fostering this new partnership."_

At least the woman seemed to be smart enough to use carrots instead of the stick. If they truly believed Misty could make Ash do stuff, then blackmailing her into cooperation was too likely to fail and have the opposite effect.

_"The Elite Four of Kanto speak very highly of you. Especially Agatha when we discussed her potential successor."_

That was a very tasty looking carrot, alright.

"I will tell him that you called. He is napping after ripping weeds from my courtyard."

_"...Weed?"_

"Good day Mrs. Goodwill."

Misty would have liked to say she wasn't tempted by the offer. This time around he would have more freedom and could do a lot more good. Maybe he could live his dream for real on the second round.

And she wasn't so delusional to think her own selfish gains didn't influence her train of thought.

"CORSOLA!"

Which was derailed by the appearance of her Corasol. The pink water pokemon ran into the room and jumped straight on the table, sending papers flying in all directions.

Seconds later Misty felt the first tremor throughout the gym. Windows began to shake in quick succession with each bang that sounded like meteors hitting the earth.

Her Corsola, shaking in fear, lead Misty out of the office and down the hall where she met a yawning Ash without Pikachu.

"Don't stand around like that! We have to evacuate the gym before this earthquake makes the whole building go down!"

Ash rubbed the sleep from his eyes and kept them closed, listening to two tremors following in succession. "Tell your pokemon to stay calm. I know what that is and it's nothing to worry about."

Without further explanation he walked past her and down the stairs towards the outer area. She followed him and saw the gym pokemon build a circle around something in the distance.

The two humans squeezed by Misty's Gyarados and saw the reason for the commotion.

Two pokemon in a clinch.

"Blastoise!"

"Impergator!"

Giant behemoths, the massive turtle pokemon Blastoise and the hulking crocodile Impergator had their claws interlocked with beads of sweat running down their faces.

The water gym didn't have these pokemon in their repertoire and Misty figured they must belong to Ash, who was watching the spectacle with calm interest.

The source of the tremors became clear, when the two pokemon let go of each other and Impergator landed a haymaker across the face of his opponent.

"A simple punch…" Misty felt how goosebumps ran over her whole body as the shockwave boomed over the crowd.

"It's ok Misty," Ash put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They know not to use actual attacks when it's unsafe for others."

His words didn't have the intended effect. She tried to see the small Squirtle and Totodile of her youth in these two giants but failed miserably in the face of their mind blowing strength. As water pokemon trainer, she had a keener eye on the quality of water pokemon and saw the enormous gap much clearer than others.

Misty wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance.

Ash saw her struggle got between them. "Come on guys break it off! We are guests here."

It was like a switch had been turned off as soon as the two saw him. Both pokemon lost their glares and turned towards Ash with big smiles. They even went for a group hug, which turned to rubbing their skulls together because of their size difference.

"Man we must have just barely missed your arrival in Pallet. Did Professor Oak tell you where we are?"

"Blastoise and Impergator nodded, now suddenly staring at him as if they waited for something."

"I'm sorry for quitting the Pokemon League. You all worked so hard to make me a champion."

Misty hoped Ash didn't develop a habit of feeling guilty towards every single one of his pokemon. That was a lot of guilt for one pair of shoulders.

Both water pokemon exchanged knowing glances before putting on sunglasses. Blastoise wore the trademark black ones of the squirtle gang in fitting new size and Impergator rocked bright pink star shades.

They would deal with it.

"Uhm, your pokemon might be hungry and tired from the trip. We have a wellness area in the back."

Sudden smaller quakes signaled the start of a dance number from a very happy Impergator, akin to the moves of a very young Totodile in the past.

Ash's pokemon was as Impergator still as excitable and fun-loving as before. Blastoise played it cool behind the massive pair of shades, but the equally massive mouth twitched to an all too familiar smile as they were led inside by Misty's pokemon.

In respectful distance.

Giant engines of destruction or not, the two were still the same pokemon with whom Ash started his journey.

A bit more mature, a lot more experienced and still very lovable.

Like their trainer.

All alone without witnesses, she figured it might be a good idea to test the water for another undertaking. "Hey Ash, I'm done with work today. Do you want to hang out?"

Misty cringed from the way she had asked her question. They were young adults, and not ten year olds setting up a playdate.

Luckily, Ash either didn't know the difference or didn't care. "Sounds great! I just quickly tell Pikachu to let Psyduck sleep."

The mere mention of her pokemon sent the mood spiraling downwards. "Why would he wake him up?"

Several attempts to moderate her bad temper over the years had taught Misty a few mental exercises. She had always been an angry child, fostered by the neglect and ridicule of her sisters, but the responsibility of a gym leader left little room to vent.

Their family relationship had improved with age, although the conditioned reflex of aggressiveness towards sources of discomfort remained stubbornly.

Ash was about to become the biggest source of comfort in a while. "He's sleeping with us in the guestroom."

The level of her anger constantly rose with every nonchalant word from his lips. His ignorance towards the situation was the only reason she held it together.

Misty gritted her teeth and clenched both fists. "You didn't have to trouble yourself with my pokemon."

Especially Psyduck. He was her problem.

The smile on his face that usually charmed her, grated on her nerves as he spoke. "I don't mind helping you."

There were a lot of things she could have said to him, better things to stop the escalation. She could have explained to him how she felt about Psyduck and shine some light onto the source of her anger.

She could have said nothing.

Misty chose instead to say what felt good and gratifying in the heated moment. "But I do mind Ash! Nobody told you to stick your nose in my matters! I don't need you!"

Frosty, numbing coldness settled in Misty's stomach as the Ash before here seemed to vanish behind an expressionless mask. "You are right, Misty. I haven't been around for years and have no business forcing myself into your life. I swear to take this into account while working for you."

This was definetly not what she meant to express. In anger, her stupid mouth often lashed out but Misty hoped he knew she wasn't serious. It has always been their dynamic to fight and find back together.

He always took her mood swings in stride.

Then why did him walking away feel so permanent?

"I just realized that there's some business I need to take care of today. Let's do our appointment another time."

Appointment. A safe, distant and non-emotional term between a worker and his employer. Her heart couldn't take it to see him reduce their relationship to business level as a defense mechanism and embraced the retreating figure from behind.

"Ash please… I didn't mean…"

He was shaking under her touch. She had hurt him bad.

The unbeatable champion felt brittle as glass. "I'll ask Charizard for a ride so expect me to be back tomorrow at the latest. Tell Pikachu not to worry about me."

The promise of his return soothed the icy terror in her gut somewhat, his willingness of leaving Pikachu in her care showing he at least still trusted Misty with his pokemon.

She hoped that wasn't the only trust remaining.


	7. Chapter 7

Time flies when you are having fun.

The same can be said about deep inner turmoil from a confrontation with your best friend, because several hours had passed in a blink of an eye since Ash's departure from Cerulean City on Charizard's shoulders for a Kanto round trip.

Viridian City was his last stop for the day.

Or better, the pokemon gym of Viridian City.

Ash couldn't explain what brought him here in the middle of the night. This was the only gym he had never beaten both times around. During the first time, the leader hasn't been available for a battle and the gym closed long before his second round around Kanto.

Rumours were plenty about the gym and the incredible strength of his owner, giving it the unofficial title of strongest gym in Kanto.

Maybe he was hoping subconsciously to meet this trainer for a fight to distract him from the problems of the present.

Whatever he wanted, Ash doubted more and more he would find it in this dilapidated building. The doors and windows were barricaded shut, except from a small basement window at the back.

Charizard looked at the small hole unimpressed and signaled his trainer that he would wait on the roof.

One tight fit later, the young man stood among rows of empty cages and his opinion about the former gym leader dropped like a stone.

Pokemon definitely had been kept in there for a long time under abysmal conditions.

Ash hurried to get upstairs and reached the most upper floor with all the offices. The largest one, beyond two massive wooden doors, belonged to the gym leader.

In its prime, the office must have been ridiculously lavish.

Expensive carpets and furniture were gathering dust which released into the stale air with every step. Ash sat down in the large leather chair and fiddled with drawers, who were all empty to his great disappointment. The curiosity about the gym leader had increased to a burning desire to know what type of person he had been.

The simple answer was stored in the wardrobe behind him and simultaneously explained the sudden disappearance.

A black trench coat and matching shirt emblazoned with the signature red R of Team Rocket.

"Villain or not, the dirtbag had taste," Ash thought and couldn't suppress the urge to try the clothes on.

They fit like a glove and he posed in a nearby mirror after wiping the dust off. The choreography that Jessie and James did with Meowth seemed fitting for the occasion.

"Prepare for trouble…"

The words rang through the empty room and Ash smiled sadly after completing the routine flawlessly from memory.

Sometimes he missed the three goofs.

Ash missed a lot of things from his past and musing about them brought back thoughts of one constant throughout.

Misty.

Her words had hit him hard. Not because they were cruel or inappropriate, but Misty had voiced what he feared since his return.

Nobody really needed him.

Years have come and gone and everybody was fine without the annoying boy from Pallet. They had their own dreams and problems and didn't have to rely on an eighteen year old without plans for the future.

Misty had every right to get angry. What made him think he could do better with Psyduck than the woman who looked after him for half of her life?

Ash kicked the desk in frustration with enough force to topple it with a loud crash and saw sudden movement from the corner of his eye. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

After a high-pitched gasp, a child walked into view to stand attention. The little girl had long unkempt brown hair and stared at him with big green eyes. She wore a small skirt and a brown jacket which was several sizes too big on her small frame. On her feet she had worn out and dirty white sneakers.

The most eye catching piece of clothing was her black headwear. She wore a Team Rocket cap in impeccable condition compared to her other dirty clothes.

Ash relaxed his posture and tried to look more friendly. The girl clearly was frightened of him after the outburst, shaking like leaves while trying to stand as straight as possible.

"Rocket Grunt Leaf reporting for duty, sir!"

The girl named Leaf didn't look older than six or maybe seven years. Even if Team Rocket still existed in some capacity, they wouldn't recruit children barely old enough to be out of kindergarten.

"You are with Team Rocket? Are you sure about that?"

The girl let her head sink low and mumbled quietly. "Not yet, but I want to be a Team Rocket member!"

All of a sudden, the shy girl spoke with a lot more confidence in her voice, her fear blown away.

"Why?" Ash asked, not understanding how a small child would want to join a bunch of criminals.

"Team Rocket has lots of money to buy food and everything they want! And you aren't lonely because they have tons of pokemon to keep them company. Oh, and nobody can tell them what to do!"

It made sense on a very childlike level. Ash figured this girl had a very romanticized impression of what Team Rocket was all about.

The freedom came with a price and she should learn about it now rather than later, before she started hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Team Rocket have never been the only villains around the block. "Team Rocket has so much money and pokemon because they steal it from other people. Do you want to be a thief?"

Leaf reacted as he expected. She was stunned and bit her lip to stop it from quivering. "Did you ever steal from other people?"

Ash answered honestly, confused about the sudden shift to him. "No, never!"

And just like that, the quivering stopped and Leaf brightened up with a big smile. "Then I want to be a Team Rocket member like you! Can I join please?"

Ash's eyes went wide when he realized how this whole situation must look for the girl. She found a man in Team Rocket uniform rummaging through the office and loudly demanding to show herself as if he owned the place.

"I even have a pokemon!" Leaf produced a small battered pokeball and threw it. "Rattata go!"

The purple and blue mouse pokemon materialized and looked around. Ash could tell it was underfed and exhausted from a glance. Its eyes fell on Ash and froze in fear from the red R on his shirt.

The poor thing was most likely a remnant from the locked up pokemon in the basement. He kneeled down and petted the Rattata carefully until it ceased to shake.

The weak display disheartened Leaf and she hugged her little mouse. "I'm sorry, sir. We didn't have much food lately and my Rattata won't eat when I go hungry."

The girl really didn't compare much better on a second look. Besides being very dirty, she was very thin and bony at all the wrong places.

"What about your family?"

"I have no family!" Leaf said happily which caused Ash to raise an eyebrow. "There's nobody who cares about me, so I won't be distracted from doing my best for Team Rocket!"

Sudden sirens and blue light from the windows startled them both. Ash saw a police car stop outside and an old lady pointing at the gym for the two officers getting out.

Somebody had seen him enter.

"They found our home!" Leaf embraced her pokemon protectively. "I can't go back! They don't allow pokemon like Rattata and would chase him away!"

A girl with no family had no other place than an orphanage. Viridian City didn't have one, which meant the girl had traveled quite a distance.

From a bigger city most likely, which explained her reaction. Rattata in cities are used to living off the trash of people and are often seen as pests, joining ranks with other second class pokemon.

Ash remembered how difficult it had been to let his Muk roam around without causing a commotion.

Leaf loved her pokemon too much to abandon it and that left her with the difficult decision to either fight for Rattata of flee together.

Neither looked promising.

"What should I do? Where should we go?"

The child entered the first stages of a panic attack, tears and desperation visible on her face. In that singular moment, Ash made a decision that wasn't the smartest but in his eyes the only right one.

"Grunt Leaf!"

"Yes, sir?!" The girl replied and stood attention on reflex.

"Gather your belongings and come back here as quickly as possible. We are leaving!"

The girl smiled with her Rattata pressed against the chest, wiped the tears away and saluted to him. At lightning speed, she and her pokemon had gathered their few belongings; a spare change of clothes, a second empty pokeball and a grimy backpack with the logo of the Pokemon League.

Ash took off the Team Rocket trench coat and shirt, giving it to Leaf to put it in the backpack. "Nobody can know that we are part of Team Rocket. Look after this uniform and don't let anyone see it!"

Leaf took off her Grunt cap and looked at it sadly. "This too?"

"Keep the cap. There isn't the Team Rocket insignia on it."

"Thank you sir!" She proudly put the cap back on and recalled Rattata back in its pokeball. "How are we going to get out?"

A quick whistle with two fingers in his mouth answered that question. The roof above them evaporated and Charizard landed among them.

"Get on and hold tight!" Ash helped the spellbound girl on the giant pokemon and saw the first rays of a flashlight approaching from the corridor. "Charizard use Smokescreen and fly out!"

Thick black clouds filled the room from Charizard's mouth before the pokemon took to the air with one giant leap. Leaf almost fell off from the acceleration but Ash had a tight grip and pulled her towards him.

They flew in silence as Leaf gazed in wonder at the city skyline of Viridian City. Soon the buildings of the city were behind them, followed by the thick canopy of Viridian Forest and finally the first lights of Pewter City.

"Bad timing to remember we forgot Brock in Pallet," Ash mumbled as he was on the lookout for a specific building.

"What are we looking for, sir?"

Ash pointed at the only building which still had its electric billboard turned on.

The 24/7 Diner of Pewter City.

Charizard landed gracefully out of sight and waited with a thumbs up that Leaf replied with enthusiasm.

The red dragon was the coolest pokemon she had ever seen!

They entered the diner and sat down on a free table in the back. Ash handed Leaf the laminated menu. "Take out your Rattata. The owners don't mind smaller pokemon and you both need some food."

"We don't want handouts…" the girl let out Rattata but didn't take the card from him, pouting and avoiding his eyes with crossed arms.

The proud stubbornness was kind of adorable. Luckily, Ash knew an angle that seemed to work with the girl this far. "That wasn't a request rookie! I can't have two of my newest members fall over from hunger. I expect my team to be in top condition at all times."

Leaf turned her head so quick, Ash feared she would snap her neck. "You will accept us? Really?!"

"Yes, but listen Leaf. I'm not really in contact with other members of Team Rocket. I usually work deeply undercover as normal citizen."

Ash was playing a dangerous game, willfully lying to Leaf to gain her trust. He calmed his consciousness with the excuse of wanting the best for the girl.

And she bought it hook, line and sinker. "Like a spy? That's so cool boss!"

"Kinda. And call me by name. It's less conspicuous in public."

Leaf nodded with a wink and frowned after a short moment. "What is your name Mister?"

He never had told this girl his name. Ash wasn't used to the need of introducing himself anymore through the years as a champion. People usually knew who he was but he figured the new haircut and stubble made him less recognizable.

"I am Ash Ketchum."

Leaf and Rattata squinted at him, then gasped and squeaked in unison.

"THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION IS PART OF TEAM ROC-"

Ash put his hand over her mouth and looked around in panic. They were the only patrons at the moment and the cashier gave only a small raise of an eyebrow. A quick wave and smile mollified the employee back to his magazine.

"A secret spy remember?" She nodded with stars of wonder in her eyes and he let go with a sigh. "Now order what you want. Money is no issue."

"Team Rocket is so awesome…" Leaf whispered to him and Ash had to suppress a laugh as girl and pokemon vanished behind the menu with excited chatter.

He never would have imagined to hear such a sentence from a small girl at two in the morning. Ash also never imagined becoming one of the last remaining Team Rocket members after fighting them for years.

Life could be weird.


	8. Chapter 8

Cerulean City experienced the nicest sunday in a long time. No cloud hung in the sky with pleasant summer temperatures from the early morning hours onwards. A day which made it hard to be in a bad mood.

One yellow mouse pokemon had no difficulty feeling pissed.

"Pika."

"Here you go, Pikachu. Take as much ketchup as you want!"

Misty handed Pikachu the large bottle nervously and the pokemon dumped a large heaping of tomatoey goodness over his morning toast. She had let him sleep all day yesterday to cure Pikachu's hangover, but he had to wake up eventually and was understandably furious for being left behind.

"Ka… Ka…" The anger radiated in suffocating waves from the pokemon and Misty felt the need to grab her kitchen table to keep herself from running away from every spark.

She was in disbelief how scary the little thing could look even while nibbling on soggy ketchup toast with full cheeks.

Ash was in for a lot of trouble if he returned.

_"When_ _he returned!"_ Misty scolded the negative thoughts away.

The reason for their argument sat opposite of Misty. Eating together with Psyduck had become a rare novelty like so many other things they used to share.

It started slowly at first, the pokemon getting quieter and less animated, until he completely stopped showing emotions a little bit more than a year ago.

He didn't say anything or did anything, just staring into empty space.

The condition of her Psyduck weighed heavy on Misty's heart. In her darker moments she put the blame on herself for treating him like a nuisance in the past.

Despite all the progress in pokemon care over the years, treatment of mental problems was still in early development and not officially certified.

"Psy…" Misty heard him say not more than a few inches away from her ear. Somehow Psyduck had managed to get up and stand beside her without her noticing.

The clumsy yellow duck could move like a silent assassin.

She looked down and saw a picture frame on the table with the glass side facing down. Misty picked it up and turned the frame to look at the picture. Her breath hitched as she saw herself with Ash in the nightclub, a newspaper clipping nearly trimmed to fit.

"Is that for me?" She asked the expressionless pokemon.

A slight twitch of his flipper and she remembered what Ash had done yesterday. Hastily, Misty put her hands in his flipper and squeezed to get three rapid twitches in return.

"You're still there…'

"Psy… duck." The duck said with obvious difficulty but a small wag of his tail.

All floodgates broke as the trainer hugged her pokemon in tears. She wanted to cry, laugh and scream all at once. Ash and his stupid magic touch with pokemon had done the impossible.

Even Pikachu was deeply moved and yanked out of his revenge fantasies for moment, until he heard something and cocked both ears.

"Pikapi…" The deep growl from his throat came with an almost manic grin.

Pikachu sped out of the kitchen and through the corridors, leaving the flabbergasted trainer and her pokemon to their reconciliation. Him and Pikapi would be fine again as soon as he was able to vent his frustration.

The electric mouse burst through the front door and saw Charizard landing in the courtyard with Pikapi on top. Their backs were turned to Pikachu and he could see his trainer hunched over.

Possible moves to dish out punishment went through his little head and he made the decision for a Volt Tackle. A perfect blend between shocking and physical damage.

The move ignited with static electricity in the air and Pikachu hit the ground running. Time slowed down to crawl as several things happened at once.

Charizard saw his attack first and laid flat on the ground to provide less of a target. Pikapi turned around and looked at him first with recognition then worry.

More than Pikachu expected.

Why that was, he realized when his trainer put his back towards him again and shielded somebody as much as possible with his body.

A smaller human.

His Pikapi was tough and could take a hit but a small child would get seriously injured from one of his attacks. The pokemon course corrected in the last second and overshoot his target, face planting on the floor and fizzling out like a firecracker.

"Piiiii…"

With a wounded face and pride, Pikachu laid there like a dead Magikarp. His ears twitched from approaching footsteps that were too light for his trainer.

Small hands picked up his body and turned him around. As soon as his nose pressed against the fabric of the shirt, Pikachu realized the person holding him needed soap and water desperately.

He made that abundantly clear by almost hacking up a lung through coughing.

"What's wrong with him?" A high and scratchy voice asked that grated on the nerves of the little electro mouse.

"I think he's trying to tell you that it's time for a bath." Pikachu heard Ash say and the hands holding him moved upward, so that he could stare this new menace in the curious face.

"Hi, I'm Leaf! Sorry for smelling bad."

The girl gave him a big toothy smile and set the grumpy pokemon down. "I have somebody who's been dying to meet you!"

She enlarged her pokeball and threw it. Out of it came the runtiest looking Rattata Pikachu had ever seen. It looked around cautiously at first, before focusing its gaze on Pikachu.

Like his owner, the Rattata went right into Pikachu's face and squeaked excitedly. Even as a pokemon, he had trouble understanding the barrage of sounds completely, but apparently the Ratatta was a huge admirer of him.

"Your Rattata could use a wash as well," Ash told Leaf, who saluted him in response to Pikachu's great confusion. "Pikachu, would you be so nice and show the two our bathroom?"

Pikachu glared at Ash so hard it felt like a pokemon move.

"I will explain everything at a quiet moment." Ash kneeled down and scratched Pikachu at his favourite spot behind the left ear. The pokemon tried to stay defiant, but a few moments under the heavenly treatment melted all resistance.

"I will make it up to you tenfold, I promise."

"Pi Pikapi chu chu!" Pikachu said, telling him in no uncertain terms he better be ready to make amends for ditching him. He pointed at Leaf and her still starstruck Rattata. "Kachu."

Leaf's pokemon followed first, letting the girl play catch up. They all passed Misty at the entrance and only Leaf took a second to greet her in passing. "Hi, I'm Leaf. We are going to take a bath!"

"I'm Misty and have fun?"

Usually, the Cerulean gym leader would not let total strangers into her house, but the lone man petting his Charizard had her full attention.

Ash was stalling for time, obvious through the irritated expression on the face of his pokemon. Charizard ended the charade with a quick slap of his tail against Ash's back, sending him tumbling towards Misty.

She caught him before he could fall on the stairs. They stood there, hand in hand, until Ash said the only thing he could think of.

"I'm sorry."

Misty tilted her head slightly, which was enough of a reaction to jumpstart the apology Ash had practised on the way back.

"Misty, it was stupid of me to meddle with your affairs. I need to learn to accept boundaries and don't put my nose where it doesn't belong."

"Ash shut up!" Misty interrupted him with force, stunning the young man under her stern gaze. She stepped up and hugged him as tight as possible. "You did the right thing with Psyduck."

Her voice turned raw and breathy, a telltale sign for the turmoil of feelings she tried to keep bottled up.

"My little duckling was more lively and expressive in the last two days than in the last two years. You have a gift with pokemon Ash, and my own feelings of inadequacy shouldn't stand in the way of helping others."

She let Ash go and sank instantly back into him, their foreheads touching. "But how about consulting me first before you do anything for me?"

Ash smiled. "Your birthday gifts might be a dull surprise from now on."

Misty smiled back. "Are you planning to stay around until then, Mr. Ketchum?"

"Only if you will have me, Mrs. Waterflower."

They laughed, a freeing and comfortable laughter that signaled things were back to normal between them.

Misty sat down on the stairs. "What's the deal with the little girl? Are you catching humans now too?"

Ash sighed and sat beside her. "She's a homeless orphan from Viridian City. At least that's where I found her. No idea where she's really from."

"What were you doing in Viridian City?"

"Reminiscing about the past mostly."

Ash decided to keep all the Team Rocket stuff to himself. It didn't really matter what kind of pretend play he was doing with Leaf to make her more comfortable. The whole thing felt like something private and special for only the two of them.

"Did you inform the authorities?"

"To do what?" Ash's tone became cold and bitter. "Stick Leaf in an orphanage that separates her from Rattata? She isn't going anywhere if she doesn't want to. Not on my watch!"

"Ash you can't do that! There are rules and laws for children! She can't even own a pokemon at her age!"

Ash voice reached the freezing point. "Who's gonna stop me? The Pokemon League? Let them try, I'm itching for a reason to let loose against those douchebags!"

Misty noticed the resentment towards the organization with every syllable. Her thoughts went back to the phone call with Mrs. Goodshow and how abysmal chances of reconciliation were turning out so far.

"Ash, there are still good people in the league."

Ash laughed loudly. "Like who?"

"Like me..." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Leaf can stay here for now and we will figure out everything else. Just try to stay open minded about things, okay?

"Sure… thanks Misty."

* * *

Pikachu really didn't like these newcomers.

The new girl splashing in the oversized tub with her Rattata was loud, grabby and overly friendly with him for no reason.

That is, when she didn't try to bury him under a pile of of her dirty clothes and he desperately tried to breathe through the eye-watering smell.

The little human had used a lot of those silly cans with chemical flower stink to mask her own musk and sweat, which Pikachu wouldn't have minded at all. The need of humans to hide their unique scent was a mystery to him.

For a while, even his Pikapi had used pungent water from a fancy bottle after shaving, until Pikachu couldn't take it anymore and buried the baleful object in secret.

But his silly trainer had kept buying them and an intense argument later, Pikapi agreed to stay away from the stuff.

This Leaf should do the same in his opinion.

The Rattata wasn't much better for his nerves. Even in the tub with his trainer, the purple mouse followed him everywhere with its eyes, analyzing every little thing he did with unnecessary scrutiny.

He was as annoyingly clingy and submissive as the stupid things called fans that Pikapi got in increasing number with his badges and trophies.

After their bubble bath, the two nuisances stood there wrapped in towels and stared at him with sudden sad looks. "We've seen eyes like yours before. They say we are unwanted and should stay away."

Without baggy clothes and smelly distractions, Pikachu had the first opportunity to take a good look at her. Are small humans supposed to be this skinny?

"It's okay though. Nobody likes us and we are used to it, aren't we Rattata?"

Rattata nodded sadly and the girl looked suddenly as frail as porcelain. Suppressed tears hit Pikachu like a sledgehammer and set him aflame with shame.

Pikapi must have had a reason for taking them in and he was too blinded by anger to see it up until now.

"Chu…" he stretched out his paws, signaling his willingness to be picked up by her.

Leaf and Rattata looked at him stunned for a moment. Slowly, she kneeled down and gently lifted him around the barrel, holding Pikachu close to her chest like a toddler and he buried his nose in the crook of her neck.

Without all the nasty sprays and deodorant on her skin, she smelled amazing through the odorless soap. A scent as earthy as Pikapi with a calming grassy undertone he could get lost in.

"Chaaa…"

He looked up at Leaf's serene smiling face and felt a sudden warmth radiating from his chest. On instinct, Pikachu started to groom her cheek with his tongue which caused uncontrollable giggling from the little girl.

"He likes us! Rattata, the pokemon of the boss likes us!"

"Pika?"

Leaf put him down and started to rummage through her backpack for the only set of fresh clothes left that weren't a crime to his nose. "You have to tell us what it's like to be a pokemon in Team Rocket!"

Pikachu was confused, until she pulled out a black trench coat and shirt with Team Rocket logos from her backpack.

"Don't worry about us spilling the beans to others. Ash trusts us and even gave us his uniform for safekeeping!"

She handed him the shirt to sniff and Pikachu froze as he smelled Pikapi on it.

"You are looking scary again. Everything all right?"

Pikachu forced a smile, but internally he was seething like a volcano.

Pikapi had a lot of explaining to do.


	9. Chapter 9

The start of a new week brought a multitude of new challenges for the young gym leader Misty Waterflower.

There were enough tasks and problems to take care of during business days, without having to take into account how to integrate her newest employees.

Employees. Plural.

The young girl Leaf had that idea stuck in her head to contribute in the same way as Ash and wouldn't take no for an answer. While she had grown frustrated with the little troublemaker, Ash calmly ensured that he would have an eye on the kid all the time. That mollified Misty's worry about child endangerment and made way for a while different kind that wasn't any less unnerving.

She would have to work together with Ash. It wasn't as if Misty regretted inviting him, but from deep inside rose natural thoughts a woman would have in the presence of a man she was interested in. Thoughts which had driven her choice of wardrobe for the day, a very troubling habit Misty seemed to be developing fast.

When in doubt about Ash, her brain gave the advice to put a lot more effort in her looks and turn up the sex appeal with dressing more risque.

Today, this line of events had culminated in a very tantalizing one piece bathing suit in sky blue, which emphasized her curves and revealed a lot of skin due to the generous cuts.

Misty had no idea a piece of clothing could show cleavage and underboob at the same time, let alone maintain its structural integrity under stress.

She kept fuzzing and fidgeting on the elastic material on her way to the pool area, contemplating several times to change in her usual and less revealing outfit.

A single image of being seen in her less flattery ensembles for work like a combination of faded tank top and messy grey sweatpants cemented Misty's ambition to show off.

Her ambition crumbled as soon as she saw her two employees already waiting to begin. In her quest to look gorgeous, she had overshot the appointed time by almost thirty minutes.

More crumbling happened when Misty turned out to be the most overdressed. Ash wore a simple pair of black swim trunks and a white t-shirt. Leaf had borrowed one of the gyms swimsuits for students. A simple one piece in black with white stripes.

Pikachu sat on Ash's shoulders, heaps and bounds more agreeable than yesterday but still very grumpy in comparison to his usual sunny demeanor.

The reason must have been something between Ash and Leaf, if the meaningful glances the pokemon threw at the two humans were anything to go on. The mystery of their sudden relationship distracted Misty from her own thoughts of womanly qualities.

Leaf was clingy and obedient to a fault, too clingy and obedient towards a guy she just met two days ago. Ash had explained it away with her being a thankful orphan and him getting respect as champion, but something didn't add up in Misty's mind.

Something to think about during the mind numbing process of crushing gym challengers.

"Are you ready for your first day of work?" Misty asked the two.

"We've been ready for hours! Where have you been all this time?" Leaf answered in a whiny tone that made Misty wince in guilt.

Ash said nothing, his eyes fixated at Misty's forehead and visible struggling not to ogle her all over. A situation that flattered Misty to no end and soothed her battered ego.

"You can take a better look, Ash. Getting attention is the point of a nice swimsuit."

Slowly, the young man let his gaze wander over her body and she felt herself blush from the top of her head to the toes of her feet.

"You look great…"

Leaf watched the exchange between the two adults with a growing smirk.

Misty cleared her sudden dry throat. "I made a list of all your tasks while I take on the challengers for the day. First point on the list is draining the swimming pools and giving everything a good scrubbing."

"All of them?" Leaf counted six pools in various sizes and gulped.

'I won't lie, it's a lot of work. You are wearing swimsuits because you will get very wet and very dirty."

"Having second thoughts, Leaf?" Ash asked smugly.

"Never sir!" Leaf saluted, which made the young man smile, Pikachu grumble and Misty very confused with all three of them.

"That's the spirit!" Ash said and pulled off his shirt. "No sense in keeping this on if it getting dirty anyway."

Flashbacks to their drunken escapades in Pallet came to Misty's mind as she saw the first bit of exposed skin from his stomach. Her fingers tingled from the memory of stroking his defined abs and suddenly tensed when she saw Ash's chest.

"Woah you look badass!"

Misty didn't share Leaf's enthusiasm. Ash had many little blemishes and smaller scars all over his upper body that showed off an enduring life, but one faded wound in particular stood out in scale.

A fist sized area on the left side of his torso was scarred so terribly you couldn't identify were one scar started and the other ended. Seeing it all at once made her horrified and curious what in the world could leave such a mark on a human.

Her index finger traced gently along the battered tissue, as if enough attention could make it all disappear.

"I can cover back up if it bothers you."

"No, it doesn't." Misty would never let Ash get hurt again.

* * *

Work proceeded quickly and without much problems for the two new employees at Cerulean Gym, despite the enormous amount that was to do on that list.

Ash and Leaf talked about a lot of unimportant things that nonetheless helped Ash to get to know the little girl.

Leaf was bright and adventurous kid, always ready to take on the next challenge. She loved pokemon generally more than people and didn't share many of the same interest of her peers, which led to isolation and bullying from her old place.

Whatever Ash tried, he could never elicit the destination of that place from her.

In turn, Leaf's questions focused more and more on Misty. Ash had possibly told the girl his whole history of travelling with her by the time they started cleaning the sixth pool.

He almost fell headfirst into it when she asked him a simple question after hearing their story.

"Do you love her, boss?"

The Ash of the past would have fallen into his usual shtick of denying or deflecting the issue. Current Ash has had years and years of reflecting alone with his feelings and that left no ambiguity about it.

"Yes, I do Leaf."

Ash peeked at Pikachu in apology for forgetting to specify Misty as his most beloved human, but the yellow mouse was too busy gaping at his trainer in shock.

Not because Pikapi loved Pikachu-Pi, that was obvious even to the most oblivious, rather because he actually admitted it for the first time since they knew each other.

"Does she love you back?"

A simple question to a child and yet, Ash had to think long and hard about his answer. "We both always known there is chemistry between us. Against popular belief, I'm not a clueless idiot about woman. Enough gold diggers have tried to gain my attention as champion to recognize when somebody fancies you."

"Then why did neither of you confess?" Leaf looked at Ash as if he was stupid.

"I can't speak for Misty's reasons. I didn't do it because she's my best friend."

"That doesn't make any sense! Why wouldn't you confess if you are that close?"

The girl was getting visibly agitated and Ash felt the need to calm her down."I haven't spoken to anybody from my life for almost a decade. I struggle with accepting that she still wants me as a friend, let alone imagining as a boyfriend."

"Besides, as a Team Rocket operative, duty should come first, doesn't it Grunt Leaf?" Ash tried to sound playful, ignoring the glare from Pikachu.

Team Rocket talk was his goto game plan to shut down unpleasant discussions and had a lot of success with it so far.

That success streak ended now. "That's bullshit, sir!"

Was Ash really going to get lectured by a child?

"I want to become a part of Team Rocket to help the people and pokemon. Money and other wealth is only worth something if you can share it with others! Becoming strong only matters if you have something important to keep safe!"

Apparently, and she was not half-bad at it.

"Otherwise, what's the point of it all?"

She managed shake Ash to the core. "What indeed…"

"Boss?" Lead asked tentatively, seeing the haunted look on Ash's face appear.

"Pikapi." Pikachu snuggled Ash's cheek to bring him back from his heavy thoughts. He might be still mad with his trainer, but that didn't mean he would abandon a friend in need.

Ash rewarded the pokemon by scratching his chin. "It's nothing. Your version of Team Rocket sounds pretty amazing."

"It could be, if we convince enough others to do the same."

"Leaf…'

"I know, I know secret agent and stuff. Nobody can know…" Leaf gifted him a bright smile. "But I think Mrs. Waterflower wouldn't mind. When somebody loves you they will accept all of you."

Ash wished he could be this hopeful about the future.

"I will come back to that when I know what all of me is, Leaf. I promise." Ash said and went back to work, ending the conversation.

Leaf wondered how somebody so strong could look so sad, while scrubbing the green muck from the pool floor with him.

* * *

"Last challenger for the day!"

After a day of kicking ass, Misty was looking forward to a relaxing afternoon and the newly acquired free time would be used to its fullest.

Preferably with Ash.

Only one remaining trainer had to be put into his place and he was a real piece of work. The boy came too late for his appointed battle and got relocated to the end after a lot of begging and whining.

Misty was used to these kind of trainers and didn't bat an eyelash when he entered the arena. The little kid was really scrawny looking with his red hoodie and a black baseball cap he wore backwards.

"I ask for an opportunity to challenge the Cerulean gym for its badge!"

At least the kid had manners. Many just threw their first pokemon at her from the entrance without introductions.

"As leader of this gym, I accept your challenge." Misty took a pokemon from her belt and threw it. "Choose your pokemon to fight against my Starmie!"

Starmie was a bit overkill for a new trainer. Selfish desire for ending this fight early had taken over control of her actions and she couldn't take it back now.

"Go Cyndaquil!"

Any consideration for the boy evaporated as soon as the fire pokemon came out. She was the leading expert in water pokemon battling and this newbie had the gall to challenge her with a pure fire type.

"That's a tough sell buddy, are you sure about that?"

That's what Misty thought, but she hadn't been the one to say it.

Ash sat in the bleachers to the right with Pikachu and Leaf. All of them somehow gotten in without Misty or her challenger noticing.

"The champion…" The boy muttered starstruck.

Misty sighed and started the battle, ready to teach this boy a lesson. "Starmie use Water gun!"

"Cyndaquil, use Endure!"

Ash's interest was piqued. "The kid has a gameplan…"

Cyndaquil took the brunt of Starmie's attack, battered and barely holding on to consciousness afterwards but still standing.

"Just give up kid and come back another time. Your pokemon is finished."

The cunning smile on the boy's face in response to Misty's comment set off an alarm in Ash. Endure was last ditch effort move to hold on just long enough for one final attack.

Misty should know this.

"Cyndaquill, use Reversal!"

From how fast Misty's face fell, she hadn't thought about it. Reversal was an attack that gets stronger the more your pokemon is injured. Combine this with the survival nature of Endure, and you get the greatest amount of use out of the attack.

The superpowered move hit Starmie like a truck and knocked the pokemon out the arena, making it hit the wall behind Misty with an earthshaking smack.

Ash was impressed and a bit worried about how rusty Misty seemed to be. The lack of challenge had made her complacent and careless. She had fallen for a trick which would only work once but that one time was enough to get a win from her.

He watched the kid receiving his batch from a shellshocked gym leader.

Maybe, Ash thought, there were still capable new trainers out there. "Hey kid, what's your name?"

"I'm Gold from New Bark City." The boy left smiling with his new badge, glancing at Ash one final time before exiting through the door.

Back to comforting his best friend.

"Hey, Misty?"

"Yes, Ash?"

She wasn't looking at him, staring blankly ahead in a dreamlike state. Her mind still had trouble processing what just happened.

"Leaf and I need a few things from town and wondered…" He took the woman by the shoulder to gain her full attention. "... would you like to go shopping with us? Maybe get a bite to eat afterwards?"

"Sounds fun…" Misty began to walk towards the entrance, until a gentle hand took hers.

"Misty?"

"Yes, Ash?"

Ash gave her the most patient smile possible.

"Go change out of your swimsuit first."


	10. Chapter 10

Nothing is as dangerous as the fury of a woman scorned. Ash could verify the truthfulness of that statement by observing Misty's behavior since they left for their shopping trip.

She even dressed angry, wearing whatever she could grab from her dresser. It reminded him of the old Misty that valued function and comfort over appearance. A pair of jean shorts, a beige tank top and olive green hoodie, rounded off with a pair of white sneakers.

She even wore the sideways ponytail again.

Ash had yet to see an outfit she didn't make look drop dead gorgeous or irresistibly cute. No doubt in his mind remained about his feelings towards this impossible creature, both in romantic and carnal nature.

Thank Arceus, Pikachu was a heavy sleeper, or he would have to explain his private urges during the nightly bath breaks since they got here. Seeing Misty in a sexy swimsuit had almost broken his male mind and Ash developed a pretty good understanding how Brock felt about ninety percent of the breathing female population.

Which made his decision to take it slow all the more agonizing, but making up for lost time didn't mean he would rush headfirst into things.

Misty deserved better than being the target of a directionless and hormonally challenged guy barely out of puberty.

Another poke in his cheek from a yellow paw informed Ash that he'd been brooding again. Pikachu truly was a lifesaver in these situations. And luckily, Misty and Leaf were too occupied with stewing in anger and childish excitement respectively to notice.

Practised to change on command, Ash put on a convincing smile for both of them. "So, where do you want to go first?"

You could almost see the grey cloud hanging over Misty's head as she spoke. "The job center to find new employment after embarrassing myself like an idiot."

"Come on Misty, the boy had a sound strategy and pulled it off flawlessly. There is no shame losing to something like that."

"Would you have lost?"

"I'm not for debate here..."

He avoided the issue and Misty was not having it. "Yes of course, the invincible champion can't fathom to lose..."

For a while now, there were these flickers of jealousy Ash could pick up in Misty's voice whenever she taunted him with his title. He didn't put much weight into it at first, thinking they simply hadn't found their old rhythm of tease and release yet.

"Would you want to switch places with me?" Quite honestly, he was getting tired of the constant reminder to his greatest disappointment.

A fact, Misty seemed to realize after looking at him. "No, I wouldn't…"

"See? Just think about not being me and you'll feel better in no time." A self-deprecating sense of humor had the interesting feature of soothing the pain of others by emphasizing your own.

Getting so bent out of shape by a single loss suddenly felt very silly to Misty. In comparison to Ash and Leaf, her problems were minor at best and she didn't want to be the one complaining the loudest.

"Should we get clothes for Leaf first?"

The girl in question had her nose pressed against the glass of a shop from a pokemon breeder. In the showcase window was a new batch of freshly hatched Eevee, playing and jumping around.

Ash and Misty joined her on each side and watched the pokemon with her.

"They are cute," Misty crouched down to get a better look at a Eevee licking the window from the inside. "This breed is excellent for Coordinator contests but not much for actual battling."

"What's the difference?" Leaf asked.

The Eevee tried to lick Misty's hand through the glass. "They choose parents with qualities which are sought after in contests like grace and dexterity to pass it on to the next generation."

Leaf's expression dimmed a bit."Isn't that cheating?"

"It's not illegal." Ash answered in an even tone.

"You don't sound like you approve."

"Nothing escapes you," He pulled off Leaf's cap for a moment to ruffle through her hair. "I always believed what we can achieve is decided by determination and hard work, not talent and good genetics."

Leaf fell silent, deep in thought while Misty couldn't take off her eyes from the young man staring blankly at the Eevee. Sometimes Ash seemed to grow older, all the levity and energy leaving his body until only a jaded husk remained.

"Do you want one?"

"No, sir." Leaf shook her head. "I want to catch my second pokemon after defeating it together with Rattata."

Fire reignited behind his vacant expression with a matching smile. "Then we should get you both in fighting shape as soon as possible!"

Leaf gasped in excitement while Misty and Pikachu gave him floored looks. The girl was way too young for serious training and especially Pikachu knew from experience what training with Ash would entail.

"But first we have to update your wardrobe. Can't have my new pupil run around like a vagabond."

Ash took the girl by the hand and led her towards the nearest boutique for women's clothing. Leaf marveled at the size difference of their hands, her own completely vanishing in between the comforting grip of his big calloused fingers.

She felt completely safe.

"Why do I look like the third wheel in this constellation?" Misty asked with a sigh but smiled at the display. Pikachu retreated from Ash's shoulder and relocated to hers, equally forgotten for the moment by the teacher and his new student. "They look adorable together, don't they?"

Pikachu agreed with a nod, deep in thought about how to call the newest addition to Pikapi's pack. "Pi… Pipi… Pipi-Chu!"

Pipi-Chu was the perfect name for the girl and the little pokemon patted himself on the back for coming up with it on the fly. As part of their pack, she had the blessing of Ash's pokemon to get close to him without constant supervision. Their trainer made a lot of enemies over the years and without other humans like Pikachu-Pi to keep him safe, all of them had become a lot more protective of Pikapi.

Most of all, the little mouse considered himself as the last line of defense against the dangers of the world and would not fail again.

Never again.

Misty and Pikachu entered the building just in time to see poor Leaf completely overwhelmed by all the possible choices of clothing. Misty felt like a fish out of water herself, never having put much consideration into fashion beyond the absolute basics.

Funnily enough, it was Ash who turned out to be the most helpful and kneeled down to the wide-eyed child. "What's your favourite color?"

"Is black a color?"

"Yes, it is. I guess red is your second favourite color then?" Ash suddenly felt very nostalgic. "You know Leaf, back in the day I used to have contact with a group of colleagues who really managed to rock the color white."

Ash winked at her on the word colleagues and Leaf giggled secretively behind her hand.

"There are several ways to put an outfit together; start with the underwear and follow the layers outward, first top than bottom or choose an accessory and dress yourself around it."

Leaf touched her black cap with reverie and Ash smiled. "Bingo!"

Misty poked him in the side with a finger. "You are weirdly knowledgeable about women's clothing. I guess all the times you put yourself into dresses in the past has to pay off somehow."

"If you only knew the half of it…"

She gave him a curious look and he smiled at her without indulging any further. The smile stayed adamantly during the whole process of buying a complete new wardrobe for Leaf, six bags full filled to the brim with clothing.

After a quick stop for toiletries like toothbrushes and the only brand of deodorant Pikachu could tolerate, they sat down at a local fast food joint with kid friendly decor.

Leaf played with Pikachu at the indoor playground while Ash and Misty ordered food for everyone.

And four dozen packets of ketchup.

"They actually have Pikachu's favorite brand here. Every time we are visiting one of the franchises his eyes light up like on Christmas morning."

"It's funny," Misty took a sip from her strawberry shake and made a face from the sugary taste. "Back then we couldn't afford to eat here. Now we can and we don't want to anymore because our tastes have changed. A lot of things seemed better back then."

Ash realized what Misty was trying to say. She advised him without much subtlety to find something new in his life. Working for her was great, but only a temporary solution and no substitute for a new purpose.

He glanced at Leaf devouring her burger like a starved pokemon and smiled.

He had done that a lot today.

_**"There he is!"**_

Their moment of peace and quiet got interrupted by several arriving news teams in their vans and a horde of paparazzi in their wake.

Ash and Pikachu sighed deeply while Misty and Leaf stared in shock at the approaching wave of bodies. The word about his new look had apparently spread wide enough to be recognized again on the streets.

_"Mr. Ketchum, what are your comments on the rumours of rampant corruption inside the Pokemon League?"_

_"What are you plans for the future? Eyewitnesses have seen you around Viridian gym. Are you planning to take over as new gym leader?"_

Many more questions about him and everything surrounding him hailed down on Ash. The former champion took it in stride, all but ignoring the press like an inconvenient housefly.

So they changed their focus on the woman with him.

_"Miss Waterflower how true are the speculations about a blossoming relationship between you and the champion?"_

"I'm trying to eat…"

The first mistake was to answer them, her second to give an answer they could use for something. Several cameras moved closer to get a better look at her meal, trying to get deeply personal information on her from the choice of dessert.

Ash wished that was exaggerated behaviour among journalists.

One camera with a larger objective swung around too quickly and hit Leaf against the temple with its sharp edges. The girl cried out in pain and held the spot with both hands.

Then came the blood. In a slow trickle, it ran through her fingers and the reporters immediately distanced themselves from the sobbing girl but the damage was already done.

Pikachu saw red liquid stain her pale skin and something in him just snapped. Teeth bared and growling, Pikachu's cheeks sparked as his irises turned to slits.

"Get away!" Ash yelled at the crowd and dove for his pokemon. Years of experience had taught the trainer how to handle Pikachu safely and he held the mouse in such a way that the incoming attack wouldn't hit innocent bystanders.

"Chuuuuu!"

Instead it hit the roof, obliterating it completely.

"It's ok, Leaf is ok!" Ash held on, enduring the aftershocks. "Stop fighting! Look at her!"

In the meantime, Misty had the presence of mind to use cold water and a napkin to stop the blood flow.

Leaf's crying turned to quiet sniffling and had a calming effect on Pikachu. Ash held his pokemon close to the chest, petting and mumbling calming words to him until the electrical discharge lessened.

You could already hear the sound of sirens in the distance.

Ash stood up, still cradling a trembling Pikachu. "Take Leaf back home. I will talk with the police."

"No!" Leaf grabbed him by the shirt, burying her head into his stomach. "They will arrest you! Don't leave me!"

The horror scenario before her eyes involved him getting locked away forever. And it would be all her fault for being a whiny child that blew his cover!

She destroyed Team Rocket!

He lifted her up on his left arm, the right already occupied by Pikachu, and whispered into her ear. "They won't, I promise. Be a good Rocket and wait for me, okay?"

Leaf nodded into his neck and let herself be put down. She and Misty watched Ash approach the arriving police cars, getting swallowed by the crowd of reporters forming behind him

"Are you sure everything is going to be alright?" The girl needed consolation and and it fell to Misty to provide it.

"Ash is incredibly tough and can look after himself," she said with enough conviction to convince the girl for now, although Misty really wished he didn't have to for most of his life.

"Can I take your hand?"

Misty smiled and led the girl for the rest of the way home. Soon they arrived, turning the corner to take the long flight of stairs to the gym and a surprise was already waiting for them at the entrance.

A surprise in the form of four girls with travel bags, sitting on their suitcases against the locked doors of Cerulean gym.

"Who are they?" Leaf asked warily, holding Misty's hand tighter when they all shot up from their sitting position.

"Exactly what Ash needs."


	11. Chapter 11

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"

Misty covered her ears from the extremely loud call of frustration of four young women. Women who had deep bonds with Ash and were now very vocal about their disappointment to not be able to see him.

Each in their own way.

Serena behaved the most subdued, more sad than angry to have missed him. She had grown her brown hair back had it an intricate braided dutt. For the occasion she wore an airy red summer dress with lots of ribbons and matching open-toed shoes.

May was rubbing her temples to stave off the impending headache. The woman from Hoenn wore an updated version of her old travel clothes, red and white jacket, black spats and matching bandana over her signature shoulder length hairstyle.

Dawn was pouting with crossed arms. Her appearance had changed the most, following the latest trend in Sinnoh with her hair styled into high twintails and keeping the white beanie at home. The chosen outfit was purposely more rebellious with a black leather jacket and holes in her jeans.

Iris was the most physical with her frustration, kicking the crap out of her dented suitcase. The wild girl from Unova had blossomed into a natural beauty, dressing the most casual in simple white shorts and a beige tank top showing midriff, her ankle-length violet hair subdued by several bands and ribbons.

Seeing them all at once made Misty abundantly clear that Ash had a habit of attracting beautiful women as his travel companions.

Time had been generous with all of them, turning even the tomboyish Iris into a knockout beauty. The thought brought its share of annoyance for Misty, analyzing each of them as possible obstacle in her future plans. Plans she couldn't put into words but recognized Serena as the biggest roadblock for them.

The feeling seemed mutual, Serena's usual sugary disposition turning a lot more sour. "What do you mean Ash isn't here?"

"Yeah, what she said!" Iris was much louder and obvious in her displeasure. "His mother said he was crashing at your home!"

Delia Ketchum had shown her hand as master meddler. On the first opportunity, she had sent four women of Ash's past to her home, despite encouraging Misty to think about pursuing a relationship with her son.

Maybe, she wasn't the only possible candidate for Mrs. Ketchum?

"Ash will come back later," Misty drove the nagging thought to the back of her mind. "He has some business with the police."

Serena sighed. "Don't tell me criminal teams are still bothering him?"

Leaf was getting really nervous behind Misty. Meeting new people and most of all in larger groups often overwhelmed the girl, coined by her experiences in the past with other strangers. All of her instincts screamed to stay hidden but she had to say something.

"No… uhm. He's gone because of me…"

The volume was so quiet that the four women looked around to find out where the little voice had come from. Misty had heard Leaf well enough and turned around to take the girl gently by the shoulders and allowing visual contact to her.

"That's nonsense, Leaf…"

Serena, May, Dawn and Iris watched how Misty tried to console a girl, who had managed to hide from them. The poor little thing looked almost like a doll, frail and delicate with a porcelain white face and spindly limbs.

"It isn't nonsense! The boss had to go with them because I couldn't take a hit without crying like a baby!"

"Boss?" Dawn asked.

Leaf tensed up in fear and closed her eyes, cursing herself for slipping up again. Ash had told her to be careful not to blab out important stuff about Team Rocket. He trusted her with his secrets and so far she had rewarded his trust with bringing him to jail and having a big stupid mouth!

"Ash took her as a student. Her name is Leaf." Misty introduced her, thinking the distraught girl wasn't in the right mental state to deal with all the attention.

Someone very big crouched down beside the shaking Leaf. The distance between them had masked it somewhat, but May had a good head in height over everyone else present. Her smile was bright and inviting, calming the girl until a single question brought back the anxiety with interest.

"That's a nice cap. Where did you get it?"

The shaking returned in force.

"Hey relax, I was just curious nothing more. No hard feelings right?" May put Leaf into a tight but comfortable hug, pressing the little girl into her large bosom. Besides height she had also some lead in the chest department, only really challenged by Serena and maybe Misty in the right outfit. Leaf relaxed as instructed, nodding against the soft mounds and May used the opportunity to whisper something into her ear

"I have a cap just like that…"

Leaf stared up at the smiling May in shock and the larger woman released the small child without another word from her soft prison as if nothing had happened. On a closer look, she even seemed to put in considerable effort to keep her expression neutral.

"I have no idea how long Ash will take. You can crash at my home, but I hope you don't mind sharing rooms?"

"Like me and Ash do?" Leaf asked with a sniffle and small hiccups, catching the attention of everyone. "Sleeping together with him is really awesome. He's so warm and cuddles me in his sleep."

Five pairs of eyes stared into the very soul of the child among them, burning with varying kinds of jealousy as they all entered.

* * *

Ash Ketchum took a seat in an uncomfy metal chair in the interrogation room. The former champion would have never imagined to be on the other side of a fake mirror window. The police department of Cerulean City was well equipped for a small town station, even owning its own state-of-the-art holding cells for pokemon.

They had Pikachu locked up in one, but Ash wasn't really worried about his companion. The two of them agreed to this out of courtesy, knowing full well that no man-made cage or chain would be able to hold his pokemon if they wanted to go somewhere.

Today, Ash had a rare taste of what problems a superpowered pokemon with mood swings could bring. As strong as his pokemon were, humans like him were fragile in comparison and that situation sometimes drove them to protect their trainer.

Especially Pikachu.

The click of the unlocking door put Ash out of his thoughts and towards the entering police officer, a middle-aged man with short brown hair, heavy stubbles on his face and a cup of coffee in his hand. Any further observation of the man stopped as soon as a second person entered after him.

A person Ash knew all too well.

"Everything has been cleared up, madam. Mr. Ketchum is free to go after your discussion."

Eliza Goodshow was a woman who commanded attention wherever she appeared. Under normal circumstances, Ash would have rather spent the night in prison than dealing with her paying for his damages. Now he had to at least talk to the witch or risk looking ungrateful in front of the police.

And she knew that. "Thank you officer. I appreciate your cooperation in this matter."

Ash and Mrs. Goodwill were alone with a click of the door. "You are a man that is very hard to find, Mr. Ketchum."

Ash had the urge to lash out, but realized how little pointless bickering would achieve. All he wanted was to get back home to Misty and Leaf as quickly as possible. "What do you want?"

The woman in expensive designer clothes stood up, walked to his side and kneeled down with her head pressed on the grimy floor. "As representative of the Pokemon League I, Eliza Goodshow, beg you to rethink your decision of quitting for the sake of our sport and national security."

He had been expecting blackmail or at least some form of bribery, not groveling and pleading from the proud businesswoman. During some quiet moments, Ash had fantasized about what he would say to the arrogant bitch, but seeing Mrs. Goodshow on her knees gave him no satisfaction.

Ash just felt dirty. "Get up and explain yourself. I'm listening…"

She did as told with hopeful eyes, making his insides squirm. Life had been so much easier with the notion that Eliza Goodshow was just a spoiled brat scoring this job through nepotism.

A mental image which began to crumble away with every word out of her mouth. "You and your pokemon provided us with a difficult situation, so we had to adapt our strategy into something that was in everyone's interest."

The snort came out of him on reflex and she didn't miss a beat to address his disbelief.

"Admittedly, we failed upholding your interests in the long run. The League gave up on giving you a challenge, because early data showed us that any amount of effort spent in resources really didn't make a difference. Nobody on this planet can beat you and the organisation rather used those resources elsewhere instead of thinning the competition."

A sobering thought and yet, Ash couldn't put blame on them for coming to this logical conclusion.

Ash had issues with their execution.

"For years, the numbers of trainers joining criminal teams have risen, but we have only two occurences where the numbers literally skyrocketed; the moment you became champion and the time you retired."

A cold shiver ran down Ash's spine. His existence alone had kept others from trying to fulfill their dreams, giving up against the insurmountable challenge of beating him? His rejection of the Pokemon League drove young people to follow a wrong path?

"Why did nobody ever think of telling me all this?"

"To be honest, the league didn't have a high opinion of you. We saw you as a glory hungry conqueror, cutting his way through our delicate system and toppling everything we strived to preserve."

That was certainly a new way of seeing things, provided that it was actually true and not some boldfaced lie to trick him.

Maybe they could agree on meeting halfway.

"Let's say I would entertain the idea to return, what would have me do from now on? I'm not going back to playing circus clown in the arena."

"Certainly, Mr. Ketchum," Mrs. Goodshow said with a smile that looked genuine for the first time since he knew her. ''The challengers will be picked more carefully in terms of qualification and the frequency of title defences ought to be lowered. Of course, the money will be a lot better too as compensation for your troubles."

"That's nice, but I'm not interested in money." Ash said quickly, thinking about the events of the last few days. "Although, there is something that I want."

Ash stared intently at Mrs. Goodshow, contemplating the right wording of his demand in a careful manner.

The blonde woman interpreted the stare differently, taking off her glasses and undoing her bun to let the long blond hair free with shaky hands. "Of course, I can also personally compensate you."

Ash blinked in confusion, until she opened the top button of her shirt. "For goodness sake lady, are you offering what I am thinking you're offering?"

Mrs. Goodshow walked up to him and sat between his spread legs . "Anything in my might to get our champion back..."

The young man shot up from his chair and pressed himself against the opposite wall. "I'm impressed, scared and a bit aroused from your enthusiasm, but that's one hundred percent not what I meant!"

Sitting down back with the blushing blonde at the same table was easily on the top ten list of the most embarrassing and awkward situations of his life.

"I will take on the occasional challenger after reviewing them. In the meantime, there is a project I want to get off the ground as soon as possible and it involves property in a certain town. A building you can provide me with because your organization owns it."

To her credit, Mrs. Goodshow looked like she wanted to end this conversation as soon as he did and signaled him to get to the point with a handwave.

So he did.

"I want ownership of the gym in Viridian City."

* * *

The day in Cerulean City neared its end with the last golden rays vanishing behind the close mountain range. Inside the Cerulean Gym, Misty prepared a few bowls of snacks and low-fat dip for their impromptu sleepover. Sleeping space was understandably sparse and they all figured to make the best out of it by catching up with a girl's night.

Heavy loaded with a tray she entered her room, the biggest in the house and thus the best choice, interrupting the last bits of preparation.

Every inch of the floor was littered with blankets and fluffy pillows and everyone wore the appropriate uniforms for the event with varying styles of sleepwear. Serena had her modest silk pyjamas in light pink while Iris had just put on green shorts and a yellow tank top. May sat on Misty's bed in her red night robe, corded up at the front with a black ribbon with Dawn lying to her feet in a black negligee and stockings, reading a fashion magazine.

Scanning the room, Misty once again felt a bit insecure wearing nothing but a black t-shirt and simple white panties.

She remembered quickly the reason for her choice of clothes when Dawn looked up. "That shirt looks really big on you. Where did you get that?"

Misty stood there silent with a beet red head and Dawn gasped in shock.

"Are you wearing his clothes?"

Misty nodded.

"I hope you washed it," Iris wrinkled her nose. "The guy has a tendency to get himself dirty."

Misty couldn't look them in the eyes. "I like how it smells ok? Don't judge me!"

May stood up and walked up to her, taking hold of the black fabric and getting a whiff. "Why would we? Nobody in this room can honestly say they didn't entertain the thought of hooking up with Ash at some point in their life."

May's boldness stunned the others, everyone taking stock of oneself to gauge the truthfulness of her claim. Four sets of blushing cheeks gave answer to that and drove Misty on edge again.

The mobile phone on her nightstand rang once to signal an incoming message and she quickly went for it before anyone else could reach. It didn't stop the rest to gather around her on the bed to get a glimpse.

"Ash's coming very late. He's writing something about having to sign a few documents."

Two arms flung around the huddled up group as May pulled them all into a lying position on the mattress. Her left arm shot forward to the phone in Misty's hand and with two taps activated photo mode.

"Say cheese!" She yelled and held it up, causing the rest to stare in confusion at the blinking light before saying the word on instinct. Quickly, May let her fingers glide over the touchscreen and hit send.

Misty recovered first, wrestling the phone back from May and swiping through the menus. "What did you do?"

"Sending the numbskull a little incentive to come here quicker."

A quick tap opened the picture folder and Misty stared at the photo in horror. Five scantily dressed girls lolled between silk sheets and stared at the camera with flushed cheeks. Another swipe to the messenger app revealed the included comment to the sent picture.

_**Sexy sleepover happening... Room for one more... We are waiting handsome ;p**_

"Are you crazy!?"

It wasn't Misty who had her hands around May's neck. Sweet and innocent Serena had both hands full with trying to strangle the life out the giggling woman in her chokehold. Face to face with each other, you really noticed the difference in physique between the two. Serena was still as dainty as in her youth while May was built like an amazon in comparison, negating Serena's efforts by simply tensing her neck.

Another ping rang through the room.

"He's… answering." May said boredly and Serena let go to dive for the phone, but Misty was quicker in opening the simlock and once again found herself surrounded by four bodies.

The answer was a random string of numbers and letters.

"I think he dropped the phone. We rattled him good girls," May leaned back into a pillow with her arms crossed behind her back. "You know, messing with him is kinda fun. Anything else embarrassing to confront him with when he's returning?"

Everyone looked at each other, unsure about whether they should take part. For several years, all they've seen of him was the indomitable and stoic champion on television. The prospect of seeing Ash flushed and vulnerable had an indescribable allure for them.

Let alone their natural curiosity about his life for the past ten years.

Misty finally caved.

"His mother sent some of Ash's stuff…"


	12. Chapter 12

Five women rushed through corridors towards the questroom, each of them eager to be the first to reach the treasure resting there. All of them either barefooted or in stockings, they kept slipping and sliding on the smooth floor the whole way. The door literally burst open as several bodies fell into it, startling something small under the bedsheets

"Pikachu?" Misty asked, but soon saw a different face poke out. It was Leaf's Rattata, wearing a pokemon sized yellow pyjama with a hoodie that had pikachu ears. His trainer came out of the bathroom, wearing the same kind of pyjamas in human size.

"Isn't this cool?" the little girl turned around to reveal a small lightning bolt tail at the buttflap. "Boss bought this for us!"

"Sooner or later, we will all die of diabetes in her presence," Dawn whispered to Serena and she nodded in affirmation, barely restraining herself to tackle the cute girl for snuggling. The evening would provide ample opportunity to shower this adorable little thing in affection.

"Are you ready for your first sleepover, Leaf?" Misty asked, letting her eyes roam around the room until they rested on a very large box in the right end corner. The thing was almost as tall as the girl and she recognized the postage stamps of Pallet.

The treasure chest was within reach and convincing Leaf to let them have it was the last thing in the way. Ash's apprentice was oddly protective with his stuff, not letting anyone even take a second look without his permission.

"Yes, I really really do!" Leaf took Rattata and cuddled him against her chest. "I was never invited to anything, because nobody wanted me around."

Serena began to hyperventilate from the casual mention of abandonment of this titan of cuteness, getting fanned from Dawn with a pillow.

"Why is the pretty lady breathing so much? Do I still smell bad? I washed thoroughly, I swear!"

"No, not at all!" Any self-restraint shattered from the imminent sadness on that adorable face. Leaf learned a second later how different a hug from Serena was in comparison to May. From the latter it felt like a tight and warm blanket around your body while the former enveloped Leaf how she imagined a cloud of warm cotton candy would be, down to the pleasant sugary smell in her nostrils.

She preferred this type of hug way more.

"Uhm, maybe catch up to us later when you two are finished with whatever this is…"

"No… wait…," Leaf protested faintly but Serena had the little girl deeply entranced in her expert snuggles. Unaccustomed to bodily affection, a few strokes through her long hair and soft humming of a tune was enough to make Leaf as docile as a meowth, getting spooned from the bigger woman with half-lidded eyes.

Severely distracted, May walked up to the box and lifted it on her left shoulder. The remaining girls, minus Serena and Leaf, were amazed how effortlessly she carried the thing that must weighed several hundred three followed her back to Misty's room, Misty trying for some small talk on the way. "Is Serena always like that around cute stuff?"

May answered casually with no physical strain evident in her voice. "Don't ask me, I haven't seen seen any of you for almost as long as Ash."

She was right and Misty didn't like what it meant. None of them had kept in touch for years, so why did it feel so natural to hang out when they barely knew each other?

Iris gave Misty the answer. "I'm here because of Ash. No offense but until recently I thought your name was Mindy."

"Wait a second," Misty could understand not meeting her, but three of them were Coordinators. "You didn't even meet on occasion with Dawn or Serena during a contest?"

A shadow fell over May's eyes. "I retired from being a Coordinator when I took over the gym in Petalburg from my father."

"You're a gym leader?" Iris asked.

"Certified and accredited in my fourth year now." May answered with little enthusiasm and the other three girls noticed it right away.

"You always had so much fun as Coordinator." Dawn had trouble understanding what May motivated to give up on her dream. "Why did you quit?"

For the first time, May showed something you could interpret as anger. "Sometimes growing up means to make tough decisions and live with the consequences. Life isn't just about what you want."

Dawn's mood soured from the snippy answer and Misty stepped in to stop the situation from deteriorating completely. "Let's focus on happy things today, right? Ash wouldn't want us to be moping around when he returns."

"Who's moping?" Serena joined them with a groggy Leaf on her back and Rattata by her feet. The love-starved child had developed a taste for physical displays of affection, rubbing her cheeks against Serena's neck like a pokemon.

Iris raised an eyebrow at the cute display. "The kid must be light as a feather if you can carry her. I saw how you almost killed yourself dragging the luggage up the stairs."

"I'm not that weak..." Serena pouted and stared enviously at how easily May lifted the massive box on her shoulder.

"You took his stuff…" Leaf said with a glare and also pouted.

Iris chuckled from the double pout coming their way. "His mother has sent it to Ash and she's surely smart enough not to put stuff in we shouldn't see."

Leaf's pout went from angry to thoughtful and with a final nod of approval, the Ash Ketchum nostalgia buffet was opened and started with a true banger. Deliah Ketchum had put any piece of clothing that shouldn't get crumbled on top, like the collection of caps Ash wore during his journey.

"Oh gimme!" Dawn grabbed the cap Ash had during their time together and put it on. The others joined her with a smile, each choosing their version with a wave of nostalgia. All except Misty, because no matter how hard Dawn looked, she couldn't find the cap from his time in Kanto.

Four pairs of eyes looked at her sadly, but Misty blushed with a sigh and walked to her dresser. She came back with his original hat putting it on under their inquisitive stares. "I asked his mom to lend it to me years ago…"

"Girl, you have it so bad for the guy!" May laughed, adjusting her own cap with reverie.

"Just look for interesting stuff," Misty kept rummaging through the box, avoiding eye contact with anybody. Especially Serena, whose gaze she felt in the back of her head like a laser. A small hand entered her line of sight and she glanced at its owner. Leaf stared at the cap on Misty's head had the biggest grin on her face.

Several minutes of searching unveiled a few more humorous but way more mundane articles of clothing with a pair of Pikachu themed boxer shorts as their personal highlight.

May sat down on the bed with a thoughtful expression. "Well that was fun, but we are missing something juicy to confront Ash."

"What about that thing?" Iris pulled out a giant black clothes bag from the bottom. "Has anyone looked inside this yet?"

Headshakes all around drove the excitement back up. The clothes bag was very high quality, even having several attachments for accessories, so whatever was in there should be important to Ash. Misty opened the zipper at front and frowned when she saw a stunning lemon colored dress. Another compartment had a blonde wig. The third contained matching dancing shoes and a purse with makeup.

Leaf, Iris and Misty had no idea what this was all about, but the other three went wide-eyed with Serena gasping in shock.

"Can you hook up a phone with your TV?" Serena eyed the big flatscreen TV on the wall and pulled out her smartphone. "Does somebody have a cable?"

"Me, I do!" Dawn searched in her bag and threw the cable as soon as she found it towards May and Serena, who were already fiddling with the appliance for possible ports.

After a quick hookup and web search, the large screen played a video of an entrance ceremony in a large arena. Rows after rows were filled with spectators, waiting for the announcer to get on stage.

"_**Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls! We are proceeding to the main event of this evening. As our last contender for the championship title of Kalos we are delighted to introduce the new sensation of the Coordinator scene. Please welcome with roaring applause, the queen of Kanto!"**_

A young girl, maybe fourteen years old, entered the arena with the same dress and hair Misty was holding in her hand right now, flanked by a rather tall Hypno in a nice black suit. Serena stopped the video at a close up of the girl. The contestant radiated confidence with a big smile on her lips with expertly applied lipstick.

"Do you recognize that girl from somewhere?" Serena asked, garnering three headshakes and two intense stares at the screen. She used her hand to block out the wig, making only the face visible. "How about now?"

"Son of a…" Misty held onto the dress in her hand tighter. Serena resumed the video and watched how the contestants started their choreography. Misty, Leaf and Iris didn't know much about the intricacies of Coordinator contests, but the ensuing show had a magnitude of its own.

They were literally floating above the ground while dancing, fluorescent psycho energy sparking around them. Parts of the floor broke off, making small platforms where the two landed and continued dancing.

"This girl," Serena put the word girl in air quotes, "was known as the newly coined queen of Kanto and had been on the finish line towards becoming the greatest Coordinator ever, dazzling everybody with her daredevil performances."

The show on the screen looked more like parkour now, the queen of Kanto and her pokemon jumping and flipping between in dizzying intervals between the floating platforms while debris and energy swirled around them at mach speed. One mistake, and even a glancing hit would turn the two into red paste.

"The only reason the queen of Kanto didn't win against the reigning champion here was the point deduction because of property damage. A major point of upset among the community, which was profoundly convinced her highness had been robbed of a deserved victory."

With the last beat of the song, every piece of concrete in the air turned to glittering dust under the roaring applause of the crowd and the fanatic ravings of the commentator.

"She vanished after this last performance, never to be seen again."

Dawn had a complicated cocktail of emotions boil up inside of her. "Are you telling me, Ash dressed up as a girl and casually fulfilled my dream while training to achieve his own?"

May stared at the beautiful blonde girl at the screen. "Sometimes it frightens me to think what else Ash could fullbring if he weren't such a nice person."

"At least he stayed on brand. It's not the first time he wore women's clothing. " Misty said with May, Dawn and Iris nodding in affirmation then staring at each other in surprise.

"With you too?" The four asked at the same time, then laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. Leaf and Serena just looked confused and a bit miffed to be out of the loop on their inside joke.

May rubbed the tears of laughter from her eyes. "That certainly counts as something juicy, don't you think? I can't wait to see his face when we confront him."

"It's not nice to tease someone…" Leaf had a serious expression.

"It's all in good fun kid, don't worry." Iris handed Misty a small beat up camcorder with lots of dents and scratches. "Can you hook up this thing to the TV too? I found it wrapped up in some socks at the bottom. Maybe it's his travel diary?"

Nobody in the world knew how the unbeatable champion had trained in the past few years. Even the slightest hint how Ash had turned out to be the man he was today felt invaluable to everyone here. That hope diminished greatly when they realised there was only one video file of a few minutes and a record date from five years ago, right in the middle of his training trip.

"Here goes nothing."

The video started grainy and dark in a cave, whoever filming holding the camera very shaky. Loud howling wind picked up on the microphone from a nearby storm or blizzard outside.

Suddenly the integrated flashlight on the camera went on and it dropped to the ground. A lot more shaking footage followed until finally hands came into view to pick it back up.

Hands stained to the elbows in blood.

The view changed again and they saw the person behind the camera for the first time, pointing it at his face. It was Ash, battered and bruised with his upper body soaked in blood from a gaping hole in his chest.

Despite the dire circumstances, the young teen spoke calmly and managed a strained smile.

"_**Hi everybody… Ash here…"**_

He coughed, spitting out red droplets all over the lense.

"_**Sorry for not keeping in touch, but better late than never I guess. Pikachu is out there… looking for help… I don't think he'll make it back in time so this for you too buddy…"**_

His voice had lowered to almost a whisper as every word seemed to be an ordeal.

"_**For whoever finds this, my name is Ash Ketchum, born and raised in Pallet, Kanto region… and this is my last will."**_

A deep intake of breath, followed by a groan of pain.

"_**I have no important worldly possessions so do whatever you want with my stuff. I'm a pokemon trainer and I want my pokemon to be set free… all of them.. because..."**_

Several minutes you couldn't hear anything besides the raging storm outside the cave, then heartrending sobs that gradually transformed into low chuckling. The view changed again, the camera now resting on the floor and pointing at the exit.

"_**What am I doing? I'm not ready to die.. I don't want to die… not like this…"**_

All watchers in Misty's room, human and pokemon alike, felt a bloodcurdling chill go up their spine by the following scream of rage coming from the speakers.

_**"DAMMIT NOT LIKE THIS!"**_

The camera had recorded how he forced his broken body off the ground, shambling outside into the storm like a zombie. Misty hit the power switch when Ash kept out of sight for several seconds and only the empty entrance remained.

Deathly silence reigned in the room, interrupted by the occasional sniffle of Leaf cradling her Rattata and getting comforted by Serena.

For the first time since their reunion, Misty had the feeling she would never be able to fully understand what giving up on his dream had done to Ash. A glimpse of a few minutes had been enough to shock anyone present to the core. The maddening thought of having endured pain and suffering for your ambition, facing certain death and coming out on top to have everything mean nothing in the end.

Three knocks on the door pulled the group out of their depressive thoughts.

"Hey girls, can I come in?"

They knew that voice by heart, although four of them hadn't heard it in person for almost a decade. The door opened slowly to a small gap and a hand with a large paper bag slowly inched into the room. Pikachu sat on his shoulder looking at the weird behaviour of his trainer with a raised eyebrow.

For him, the mating rituals of humans had way to many steps. Every female of age in this room would be a fine choice for Pikapi to pass on his bloodline, but Pikachu had a special soft spot for Pikachu-Pi to become the mate of his trainer.

He would love to spoil their offspring rotten.

"I won't look or bother your sleepover for long, just putting this ice cream on a table and be on my way." Ash carried the large paper bag with one hand while keeping his eyes closed with his other hand. "I bought each of your favorite flavors from memory, so I might have gotten something wrong. Leaf, I figured you like something with lots of chocolate and cookie dough."

The addressed girl pulled herself away from Serena with a sob to tackle his waist and hugged him.

Five more bodies joined her in a group hug.

Ash was confused but let it happen without making a fuzz, until he noticed they slowly pushed him deeper inside the room. Pikachu looked as confused as he was, getting cuddled and pulled by Leaf's Rattata.

Misty said to him what everybody was thinking.

"We won't let you out of our sight anymore, you reckless idiot…"


End file.
